The 37-year-old pitcher's secret weapon to a 130-win career with a '0.000 batting average'

By Kyung-hyun Kim= Doosan Bears veteran left-handed pitcher Jang Won-jun (37) has reached 130 career wins.

Jang Won-jun started against the Samsung Lions in Jamsil on March 23. It was Jang's first start in 958 days since his last start against the SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) on October 7, 2020.

Jang got through the first inning with three strikeouts. However, he gave up four runs on five hits in the second inning. It looked like he was going to fall apart, but that was all the damage he could do. He gave up a single to Pirela with one out in the third, but retired the next two batters. In the fourth, Oh Jae-il led off with a single, but he got Kim Tae-gun to pop out and Lee Jae-hyun to ground out to the pitcher to escape the jam. The fifth inning was a triple play to end the game.

Jang Won-jun earned the win with five innings, seven hits, four walks and four strikeouts. It was the first time in 1,798 days since June 20, 2018 against the Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom) that Jang went at least five innings as a starter, and the first time in 1,844 days since May 5, 2018 against the LG Twins.

The trademark that made Jang Won-jun Jang Koo-jun was his changeup. The changeup made Jang a stronger lefty pitcher against righties. However, as his fastball velocity dropped (averaging 137.6 mph), so did the power of his changeup. In 24 games, Jang posted a .625 OPS against righties. Against righties, his fastball had a .667 slugging percentage and his changeup had a .500 slugging percentage.

While the power of his fastball-changeup combo has waned, Jang still has a slider. Jang threw his slider to lefties nearly half the time (42.2%), resulting in a .154 batting average against lefties. If you exclude the bunt hits against Kang, that number drops to .077. Jang's slider didn't allow a single hit. 먹튀검증

Jang's strength against left-handed batters could increase his utility in the future. The Doosan bullpen ranks last in the league with a 5.99 ERA against lefties. It's unrealistic to expect Jang to be in the starting rotation consistently. Even if he does fall out of the starting rotation, he could use his strengths as a specialist against lefties.

Jang considered retiring after the 2022 season, but after meeting with manager Lee Seung-yeop, he decided to extend his career. He rediscovered his slider and won 130 games in his career. Although his velocity has decreased, he has proven his ability with a veteran's grace. It will be interesting to see where Jang's baseball career takes him.