Lee Seung-yeop Begins to Analyze Videos of Ace Pitchers

“You win if you know the enemy.”

Lee Seung-yeop, putting on the uniform of the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pro baseball league next year, went into an intelligence gathering session. Lee Seung-yeop, starting physical training at Kyongbook High School on December 22, began to analyze videos on the principle pitchers of the five teams in Pacific League which were provided to him by manager Kim Ki-joo.

The first pitcher who Lee studied was right handed pitcher Saito Kasumi of the Daiei Hawks, the Japanese champion this year. He recorded 20 wins and 3 losses with 2.83 ERA and a 0.870 winning percentage and was awarded the “Sawamura” which is given to the best pitcher in the league.

Lee Seung-yeop evaluated Saito, saying, “He doesn’t throw so fast but has a wide range of curve balls” after observing Saito’s pitching. Saito, confusing the batter’s rhythm by delaying his tempo when his left knee bends right before throwing, has various types of pitches including a curve, slider, and forkball as well as good control.

Wada Tsuyoshi of Daiei is also a guy on whom Lee should be focused. Left handed pitcher Wada is a rising star who won the “Rookie of the Year” award by finishing the year with 14 wins, 5 losses and a 3.38 ERA in the regular season and also completed the 7th game of the Japan Series. Lee Seung-yeop, faced Wada and had one hit in three at-bats at the Sapporo Asian Baseball Championship, said, “He mostly threw sliders or fastballs. They were not un-hittable.”

The most interesting issue is to contend with Matsuzaka Daisuke (Seibu Lions) who throws a 150 km fastball. Lee Seung-yeop handled Matsuzaka with two homeruns in the preliminary league and a two-run winning double to take third place in the Sydney Olympics.

Competing against Koo Dae-seong (Orix Bluewave) will be also interesting. Lee Seung-yeop has had difficulty against him, with six hits in 51 at bats (0.118) and only one home run during six seasons in Korea. Lee was hitless with 10 strikeouts against Koo in 1999, the year Lee hit 54 homers. Lee Seung-yeop is still afraid of him, saying, “He is the most difficult pitcher for me to take on. It was hard to hit his pitches because it comes from a spot which is hard to see.”

In addition, there are also pitchers such as Carlos Mirabal (16 wins, 10 losses, ERA: 4.65), a foreign player of Nipponham Fighters and Iwakuma Hisashi (15 wins, 10 losses, ERA: 3.45), the ace of Kintetsu Buffaloes who Lee Seung-yeop should handle.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com