Park Chan-ho is in Good Condition

Park Chan-ho (31-year-old, Texas Rangers) pitched cleanly at an intra-squad game.

At Surprise Stadium, Arizona on March 3, Park pitched as the second pitcher of the blue team from the second inning and pitched well, striking out three batters in two innings without a hit or run against the white team, consisting of minor leagues.

He threw 17 strikes out of 27 pitches total and allowed no walks. His fastest pitch was clocked at 143 km in terrible conditions with intermittent rainfall and strong winds.

Park struck out first batter and induced the following batters to pop-up and strike out in the second inning. In the third inning, he finished easily with one strike out and two pop-ups in the field.

Although it was just an intra-squad game and taking on minor leaguers, his good performance is a positive signal indicating the recovery of Park. He is supposed to start in an exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals on March 7.

27-year-old Seo Jae-eung of the New York Mets started an intra-squad game in Saint Lucie, Florida, but gave up two runs and four hits, including a home run, over two innings.

He pitched excellently with three consecutive strike outs, including Mike Piazza in the first inning, but allowed four hits including a solo homer in the second inning.

Seo said, “I was nervous in the first game, and I was not in good condition. I will prepare myself physically for the opener.”

Showing off his powerful slugging ability by slamming home runs everyday in batting practice, 25-year-old Choi Hee-seop of the Florida Marlins hit an out-of-the-park homer of 130m distance, breaking a car window outside the stadium during batting practice on March 3. He displayed good physical condition, blowing seven homer-like batting.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com