The second game of the midweek series between SSG and LG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 24th was a home run battle. SSG opened the scoring first. In the first inning, with one hit and two errors, Park Sung-ki hit a grand slam to take the lead.
But LG responded with a cannon, spearheaded by Lee Jae-won, 24, the “Jamsil Big Boy” who is now considered one of the best hitters in the KBO. Trailing 0-4 in the bottom of the second inning, Lee smashed a two-run home run to left field off starter Roenis Elias after pinch-hitter Kim Min-sung drew a walk.
The moment it was hit, you could tell it was going to be a home run. It was a good hit, and considering Lee’s power, it was. SSG left fielder Guillermo Heredia froze on the spot and didn’t even look back, but Jae-won’s shot didn’t land in the stands. The ball traveled for a long time, 118.3 meters, and landed in the left-field bleachers.
Captured in real time by the Trackman radar, which provides tracking data to all nine KBO clubs, and provided to SPOTV, the broadcaster, the hit was shocking in one respect. It reached a speed of 177.2 kilometers per hour. It was Lee’s third home run of the season, and his previous two were both over 170 kilometers per hour. It’s no surprise now. The distance of 118.3 meters is probably not a big deal in the history of home runs, but the launch angle is. The launch angle was a whopping 40.9 degrees.
So the ball left his bat and traveled a whopping 6.69 seconds before it landed in the stands. Lee Jae-won, the fans, and all the players on the field had to stare at the ball for a long time. If it felt like an unusual home run trajectory, it was.
A good launch angle for a home run is usually in the low 20s to high 30s. If it’s too low, it’s bound to hit the ground, but if it’s too high, it’s going to lose a lot of distance in the air, which means it’s going to lose a lot of power. This is why many hitters train to create a launch angle that allows them to hit the ball as far as possible and as efficiently as possible. Lee’s home run didn’t have the launch angle of a typical home run.
There is no hitter in the world who can create a 40-degree launch angle to hit a home run. In fact, even in the major leagues, where there are so many powerful hitters, home runs with a launch angle of 40 degrees or more are not as common as you might think. They don’t exist, but they are rare.
As of today, the total number of home runs hit in Major League Baseball this season is 1687. However, there have only been 32 home runs with a launch angle of 40 degrees or more, or 0.02%. Only seven players – Connor Wong, Matt Olson, Max Muncy, Christian Walker, Mike Zunino, Brandon Lau, and Anthony Rizzo – have hit two or more 40+ degree home runs.
It’s actually harder than making a bullet home run. The number of home runs hit with a launch angle of more than 180 kilometers per hour, or 112 miles per hour, totaled 76 in the majors this year, including seven by Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta).메이저놀이터
Lee’s home run breakdowns this year have been a hot topic of conversation. On May 16 against KT, he hit back-to-back home runs, the first in the fifth inning with a batting average of 178.8 kilometers and the second at 174.8 kilometers. The distance of the first home run was a whopping 136 meters (135 meters on the neck side).
Basically, it’s all about power, and recently I’ve been realizing how to create impact on the ball. This is the fundamental reason why a strong hit can go so far. It’s something you can’t teach, because it’s something you’re born with. LG manager Yoon Kyung-yeop is confident that Lee Jae-won will be able to hit triples and 40 home runs with a little more patience. The bullet home runs and fortress home runs are proof of that.