Heroes What happened to 28-year-old Panama Express

The Kiwoom Heroes are expected to struggle this season. No matter how the team is organized, it is weak, but the start of the exhibition games has brought a series of depressing news. New signature hitter Lee Joo-hyung has a thigh injury, and native fastball starter Jang Jae-young has elbow pain. The timing of their return is undecided.
Jang Jae-young's departure is especially big. This is because the starting lineup this season is not calculated. Ace Ahn Woo-jin will be out for two years as a social service worker. With Choi Won-tae's move to LG and Jeong Chan-heon's back surgery and rehabilitation, the starting lineup is completely uncalculated. Jang Jae-young isn't really a card that counts either, but the absence of him makes it feel even more hollow.
That's why Kiwoom is relying so heavily on the performances of ace Ariel Hurtado and new face Enmanuel De Jesus this year. They need to be able to carry the starting lineup hard enough to give them the momentum to fight in the long run. However, Hurado's first start in the exhibition game was shocking.
Hurado gave up six runs on 12 hits (one home run) and one walk in three innings against the Changwon NC Dinos on April 11. His pitches 스포츠토토 weren't shaky, but they were often easy to hit. His four-seam, two-seam, cutter, and changeup were all easily hit by the NC hitters. It was almost as if the NC hitters knew what they were doing.
It was clear that the pitches themselves weren't up. Hurado averaged 146.2 mph on his fastball in 2023, per Baseball-Reference's Statcast. However, his fastball topped out at 147 mph and averaged around 143 mph. His command isn't the most sophisticated, but if his fastball doesn't have full power, he can struggle overall. Some sort of overhaul is needed.
Furado was a breakout foreign pitcher last year. In 30 games, he went 11-8 with a 2.65 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and a .234 batting average in 183.2 innings pitched. 20 quality starts. More reliable than ace Ahn Woo-jin. His 6.03 WAR ranked sixth in the league and third among pitchers. Last year, the only pitchers with a higher WAR than Furado were Eric Pedro (then NC) with 7.29 and Young-pyo Ko (KT Wiz) with 6.14.
Hong Won-ki revealed ahead of the match that he had made his opening selection. He said it was either Hurado or De Jesus, but realistically, it's Hurado. If we assume that this appearance was a side effect of his season preparation, he will start the opening game against the KIA Tigers on the 23rd. Realistically, it has to be Hurado.