“I hope that young players can see and learn that movement. Lee Jae-hyeon or Kim Young-woong (above Samsung) need to refer to it.”
Commentator Lee Soon-chul of SBS Sports naturally focused on Jose Pirella (34, Samsung) while relaying the Changwon NC-Samsung match on the 21st. While talking about some Samsung young hitters who haven’t had much experience yet, he said he hoped he would learn from watching Pirella.
Pirella was the best foreign hitter in the KBO League in the 2022 season. In 141 games, 561 at-bats, 192 hits, batting average 0.342, 28 homers, 109 RBIs, 102 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, OPS 0.976. In his second year, he fully adapted to the KBO League pitchers and league environment, maximizing his unique bat-ball hitting ability. Looking at the main secondary stats of the 2022 season, he was the most productive hitter after Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom).
Such Pirella suffered from sluggishness in the beginning of his third year in the KBO League. He shook with 24 hits in 95 at-bats, a batting average of 0.253, 4 homers, 14 RBIs and 16 points in 23 games in April. However, in May, he went 22 hits in 59 at-bats in 14 games with a batting average of 0.373, 3 homers, 13 RBIs and 7 runs scored.
It returned to the original Pirella as if it was like that when. In particular, commentator Lee Soon-cheol focused on the back leg, in other words, the right leg for a right-handed hitter. Commissioner Lee Soon-cheol said, “Pirella is the type that typically goes out first when hitting.” If you see an intense swing that seems to split the ball, the upper body reacts strongly.
It is a general logic that it is difficult to fully load the ball if you hit it only with your arm without shifting the center of gravity from the lower body to the upper body, and the average cannot be guaranteed. Pirella even has a style that aggressively hits balls that go out of the strike zone. Rather, it can be easy to understand if you look at his arms before his legs because he is a bad ball hitter.
However, Pirella has a secret to hitting well while maintaining average. Commentator Lee Soon-cheol said at Pirella’s plate, “When the upper body goes out, the lower body and the back foot are lifted. It is literally instantaneous, and it serves to hold the lower body while lifting the legs.”
If you look at the real Pirella’s hitting, the arms go out first following the ball, but the legs give off the feeling of holding up one tempo momentarily. Starting with her arms, her body doesn’t budge, it feels like it’s ‘ta-dak’. Commissioner Lee Soon-cheol explains that this is ‘back foot lifting’. This action compensates for the weakness of the hitting mechanic, where the upper body goes first, while watching the ball more, allowing you to strike at the correct timing.먹튀검증
Commissioner Lee Soon-chul predicted that Samsung’s young batters, such as Lee Jae-hyeon and Kim Young-woong, would be able to hit better if they added Pirella’s back foot movement to their current mechanics. On the other hand, Chae Eun-seong (Hanwha) was picked as the hitter who was the best at back foot lifting.
It may be difficult to find Pirella’s sluggishness in April and boom in May simply from leg movements. What is clear is that at this point, Pirella is starting to hit his own. He is a hitter who has already dominated the KBO league. In June, when the temperature rises, he can become more powerful.