Kiwoom Heroes manager Hong Won-ki believes patience will be a virtue as one of his top young pitchers tries to convert to being a position player.
Jang Jae-young, a former top draft pick by the Heroes as a hard-throwing pitcher, has decided to switch to hitting. The Heroes announced Sunday that Jang would try to play shortstop, with center field also an option. Jang has been dealing with some elbow pains and instead of going under the knife, he has opted for rehab.
The mid-career conversion will be part of the rehab for the 22-year-old, who was once a highly touted pitching prospect out of high school. Jang made his minor league debut at the plate as designated hitter Tuesday and had a base hit.
That hit came against right-hander Jeong Cheol-won, the 2022 Rookie of the Year in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) trying to find his game in the minors.
While the hit against a veteran pitcher is an encouraging sign, Hong said he won’t make a big deal out of it just yet.
“I’ve heard from our coaches that Jae-young made pretty good contact, but I’d have to see him play with my own eyes at some point,” Hong told reporters before hosting the NC 토토 Dinos at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. “Whether he gets a hit or not at this point isn’t that important in the grand scheme. He has to work on his defense, and we have to keep an eye on how his arm feels. For now, we’ll give him some reps at DH to see how well he can swing the bat. But we’re going to need more time on him.”
Given the hype surrounding Jang’s arrival three years ago — he received a franchise-record 900 million won ($660,550) signing bonus — not getting more out of Jang as a pitcher is a letdown for the Heroes. Jang had a 6.45 ERA in 56 outings over the past three years.
Hong said he was only looking forward to what Jang now can bring to the team as a position player. And the manager said he liked what he saw from Jang in the odd outfield defensive drills he did during spring training.
“Obviously, practices and games are vastly different. But he showed a lot of baseball IQ on the field,” Hong said. “He’s really fast and has a strong throwing arm. I was really impressed with what he was able to do.”