(Jupiter, FL) With a pair of bullpen sessions under his belt, Seung Hwan Oh faced hitters for the first time in Spring Training today.
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“Yeah, very exciting,” said Oh as translated by his interpreter, Eugene Koo. “It’s been a few months since I pitched against any hitters. Very exciting for sure. At the same time, Lilli and the other coaches told him to take it slow. So take it slow, but felt very good.”
Like other pitchers, Oh is working into a comfort level on the mound and will then dial in his control and ramp up the velocity.
“It was more about balancing today–not focusing too much on how to place the ball or how I’m going to throw it,” he said. “Listening to the catcher more or less, just feeling comfortable. Right now, my goal is not to have the hitters hit any balls it’s to feel comfortable.”
After Tuesday’s workouts, Oh sought out Adam Wainwright and the two pitchers compared grips on their breaking pitches.
“Everyone knows he has a great curveball, so just asking questions and answering back if he has any questions,” said Oh, who shared he’s noticed in pictures that he naturally lifts his ring and pinky finger when throwing fastballs.
Besides the live pitching practice and various drills, Oh also noted a similarity of this Spring Training in terms of working on not tipping pitches.
“I actually feel they’re not too different, but also very different in the way that we obviously throw a lot less here in the Major Leagues, but the coaches have been great helping me out catching details just from the 30 balls I’ve thrown versus 100 balls or 150 balls. So it’s been good.”
WALDEN FEELING GOOD
–Jordan Walden also faced hitters for the first time and continues to share positive feedback regarding his shoulder.
“Yeah, it was something that I was looking forward to,” said Walden of facing hitters. “I was a little nervous at first–it’s been a while since I’ve seen a hitter. I’ve worked a lot, I spent my whole off-season doing rehab so spend my whole off-season doing something and then finally getting out there it was kind of a stress relief almost.”
“Not having to worry about gosh, ‘I hope it feels good today or hopefully, it’s not cranky or did I sleep on it wrong last night’. There were all kinds of things going on.”
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