Dinosaurs 34-year-old submariner is no longer a two-pitcher from Oncasinosite Net's blog

“I practiced a lot.”

Lee Jae-hak, 34, of the NC Dinos Submarines, has long been known as a fastball, changeup, and two-pitch pitcher. He's not overpowering, but he's also limited in his ability to diversify his pitch design, which is why he's felt stagnant for so long.

But like a swan in a lake, Lee Jae-hak may appear calm on the surface, but beneath the surface he has been diligently sharpening his weapons. The cutter. According to baseball stats site Statize, Lee didn't suddenly start throwing a cutter. He was still a two-pitch pitcher in 2023, throwing 8.7% sliders and 1.2% curveballs. The cutter was 0.2%.

This season, his curve is at 6.9 percent. On the 24th against the Jamsil Doosan Bears, he increased it to 15.2%. Then, against the LG Twins in Changwon on the 30th, he utilized 11 of them, 10.0%. While he used his cutter less frequently against LG Electronics than against Doosan, it's still a clear sign that he's making hitters realize that it's no longer a two-pitch pitch.

It was Lee's second consecutive Quality Start+ (7 innings, 3 earned runs or less). It had been 2212 days since April 10, 2018. Lee picked up his first win of the season against Dusan with seven innings of three-hit ball, five strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run. He followed that up with his second win of the season against LG with seven innings of five-hit ball, six strikeouts, and one walk. He lowered his ERA to 3.98.

“I tried to use a lot of cutters,” Lee said. LG has a lot of lefties (a right-hander's cutter usually digs into the left-hander's body), so I used it less than against Doosan, but I tried to mix it up at the right time. It should work against right-handed hitters. I've been practicing my cutter a lot, but I haven't tried it.”

It was catcher Park Se-hyuk who encouraged Lee to use the cutter more. “Se-hyeok actively told me to use it, and I changed my thinking. I didn't throw it much in the beginning, but now I started throwing it a lot. Coincidentally, after that day,” he said.

On April 14, Lee gave up six runs on six hits (two home runs) with four strikeouts and two walks in 3⅓ innings 바카라against Samsung Electronics in Daegu. The game was highly publicized for the umpires' error in receiving ABS. The umpire Lee Min-ho, who was the assistant manager at the time, even took off his clothes over the incident.

Lee Jae-hak said, “Coincidentally, I feel like I have good energy after that day. It's good to have a foothold in the team's victory. I've been playing with Se-hyeok this season, and I like him and (Kim) Hyung-joon. I'm grateful to Se-hyeok for leading us well this year.”

Lee Jae-hak's move away from his two-pitch arsenal in favor of his cutter has the effect of elevating the NC starting rotation to the next level. NC has a solid 1-3 starters in Daniel Castano, Kyle Hart, and Shin Min-hyuk. Lee Jae-hak and Kim Si-hoon round out the 4-5 starters. NC is now within one game of first-place KIA thanks to the strength on the mound.