“That was just the most fun.”
Ryan Thompson (31, Arizona Diamondbacks) is a rare sidearm in the major leagues, but his dynamic delivery, which involves a lot of head ducking and arm extension, looks familiar. He looks a lot like Byung-hyun Kim, 44, a businessman and entertainer who helped Arizona win the 2001 World Series.
In real life, Thompson is living the life of a submarine pitcher after watching Byung-hyun Kim pitch. He made his major league debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020, and moved to Arizona midseason. As fate would have it, he wore the uniform of the team where Byung-hyun Kim spent his prime.
And he’s doing well. In Tampa Bay this season, he went 1-2 with a 6.11 ERA in 18 games, but in Arizona, he pitched a salty 0.69 ERA with four saves and one save in 13 games. Even better in the postseason. One win in nine games with a 2.31 ERA.
He was used in Game 1 of the World Series on April 28 against the Texas Rangers. In the bottom of the sixth inning with a 5-3 lead, he was the second pitcher after ace Zack Greinke. He gave up a walk to Jonah Heim and a double to Josh Jung. But he struck out Rody Tavares on a 92-mph fastball to the catcher.
The Statesman-Journal, an Oregon newspaper, wrote about Thompson’s story on Aug. 28 (KST). “No one was more interesting to Thompson than Byung-hyun Kim. Kim was a dominant closer who fooled hitters with his trademark submarine style while playing for Arizona from 1999 to 2003,” the paper wrote.
“Thompson noticed that his friends couldn’t hit his pitches when he pitched like Byung-hyun Kim hundreds of miles away, and Byung-hyun Kim was Thompson’s favorite member of Arizona.” “The whole 2001 World Series was a great memory,” Thompson said.
But Thompson’s father didn’t like his son’s form. He wanted him to throw overhand, according to the Statesman Journal. But Thompson couldn’t give up his submarine delivery, and he took advice from his pitching coach at Western Oregon University. “The arm slot may look low, but you have to try it,” the pitching coach told him. “It was logical, and the results were immediate,” Thompson said.
In college, Thompson was considered one of the best sidearms in baseball, but that didn’t work out as well in the major leagues. But with Byung-hyun Kim’s team, he made it all the way to the World Series, most notably pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 of the Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25. It was a save that secured Arizona’s spot in the World Series.카지노사이트
Arizona bullpen coach Mike Peters said, “The angle he creates is behind a right-handed hitter.” You don’t actually see his arm in the right-hander’s line of sight. He has good deception, which makes it difficult for right-handed hitters to time his pitches. Coach Peters says, “Most pitchers’ pitches are within the batter’s (line of sight) shoulder width. But he’s well outside that range. The deception he creates with his arm angle is what makes him so effective.”
Despite dropping Game 1 in extra innings, Arizona is still on track to win its first World Series title in 22 years, since 2001. The Arizona bullpen had a sidearm in the World Series 22 years ago, and it has a sidearm in this year’s World Series 22 years later. The 2023 sidearm will look to the 2001 sidearm to make franchise history.
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