The Doosan Bears’ adventurer. Will he succeed?
Jordan Balazovic (26), Doosan’s ambitious new foreign pitcher, made his first appearance.
Balajovic made his KBO debut on Thursday against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Stadium, pitching 4⅔ innings and allowing one run.
Doosan brought in Balajovic to replace ace Alcantara, who has been injured and struggling. While there was a lot of buzz about whether or not they would sign Brandon’s short-term replacement, Shirakawa, the Balazovic signing was a no-brainer.
The 6-foot-1 pitcher is known for his fastball, which sits at a ridiculously high plateau. The scouting reports were true. Balajovic’s fastball was up to 156 mph on the day.
Another strength was his splitter, which, from his great height, dropped from the same pitch. It was hard for batters to handle. The splitter averages in the low 140s, so it looks like a fastball to batters.
Add to that a curveball that sits in the high zone, and it looked like it would be untouchable. Samsung’s veteran catcher Kang Min-ho is one of them, but he gave Balajovic’s pitch a thumbs-up. Even Doosan’s own staff is cautiously optimistic about his chances of success.
With a description like that, you can’t help but wonder why he hasn’t been a winning pitcher. More broadly, a player of his caliber should be in the major leagues, not the KBO.
There’s a reason.
His pitches. 온라인카지노사이트 Balazovic allowed four walks on the day and struggled in every pitch count battle, which is why he threw 93 pitches in his 4⅔ innings of work.
Of course, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances. It was his debut, and everything was new to him: the ballpark, the pitches, the batters. It was hard to get used to the new environment and the weather was hot.
However, the pitches were generally on the high side rather than swinging wildly. The pitch was so good that he didn’t get hit, but the course itself had a lot of dangerous balls.
“His pitches are so big and wild that it’s hard to get a good delivery,” said an official who watched him pitch.
Doosan had to take solace in the fact that Balazovic’s pitches were probably shaky due to debut nerves.
On the other hand, Balazovic has been a bullpen pitcher in the United States, so he needs to go through a solid buildup process to become a starter in the KBO. Samsung Electronics reportedly had a lot of pitches in the first game, but the pitcher was too full of fight and couldn’t finish.
Once the pitching and stamina issues are resolved, the team has an all-time great pitcher on the mound. Will he be able to solve these two problems and become a superstar outfielder?
