The NC Dinos' biggest issue this season is rebuilding the starting lineup. With Eric Peddy of the Chicago White Sox and Koo Chang-mo departing, the team has to re-establish itself. For now, left-handed foreign duo Daniel Castano and Kyle Hart have been recruited.
Castano, who is introduced to throw fastballs at speeds of up to 152 km per hour, draws more attention. Left-hander who evenly plays pitching seam, cutter, slider and change-up. He did not give a maximum of 1 million dollars to a new foreign player, but he has expectations of 850,000 dollars.
Castano threw his first live pitching on the 15th (Korea time). According to the club, Castano threw 26 pitches on the day. "Overall, I am satisfied with my first live pitching. My ball control was a little shaky, but I liked the movement of the ball the most, especially the cutter which is my main weapon. I focused on four-seam. Since it was my first live pitching, I focused on fastballs," he said.
The catchers who received the ball and the foreign hitter who watched the ball at bat received positive reviews. "From the standpoint of receiving the ball, I felt that it entered the mitt faster than the actual speed. Overall, he seems to be good at throwing dirty balls. It was impressive even though it was my first live pitching," Kim said.
Park Se-hyuk said, "I think it's positive that I made a good pitch in my first live pitching. I think it will be difficult for batters to hit because I had a good breaking ball and good de-ception movement. We will share the parts to target domestic batters through many conversations."
Kim Sung-wook said Castano threw a good ball overall, and I think he especially liked the pitching and ball movement. Matt Davidson said, "I participated in my first live batting, and I liked the feeling of being at the plate and seeing the ball. I saw Castano's ball at the plate for the first time, and I felt fresh, and I liked the movement and power of the four to five pitches Castano had."
Castano is not a left-handed orthodoxy. His arms slightly extend from the side, but it does not appear to go down to the third quarter. The power of fastballs in the early 150km range should be maximized, and it could be advantageous in the ABS era if he makes good use of his pitching speed and cutter. Many analysts say that pitchers who use breaking balls at home plates will be more advantageous.
It is practically impossible for Castano to do all of Pedi's part. Basically, there is a desperate need for the 3~5 domestic starters to fight hard after Kyle Hart. NC's power will be strong only when the rotation's power rises as a whole. However, if you are an ace, you should be able to catch an important game, and you have to wait and see if Castano will show such power.