(Yonhap Interview) All-Star pitcher Fedde pays it forward with his knowledge

(Yonhap Interview) All-Star pitcher Fedde pays it forward with his knowledge: Baseball / 유지호 / 2023-07-05 13:45:47

(Yonhap Interview) baseball-pitcher

▲ In this file photo from June 28, 2023, NC Dinos starter Erick Fedde celebrates after striking out Kim Jae-hwan of the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from June 28, 2023, NC Dinos starter Erick Fedde pitches against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from June 28, 2023, NC Dinos starter Erick Fedde takes a bow toward the crowd before a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. (Yonhap)

(Yonhap Interview) baseball-pitcher

(Yonhap Interview) All-Star pitcher Fedde pays it forward with his knowledge

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- Former major league pitcher Erick Fedde has set the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on fire in 2023, leading the league with 11 wins and a 1.61 ERA in 13 starts for the NC Dinos through Tuesday.

Fedde has been wildly successful thanks to his sweeper, a variation of a conventional slider with significant horizontal movement, and earned an All-Star selection in his first season here. Not surprisingly, some of Fedde's teammates have been trying to pick his brain.

But Fedde has also been generous with his opponents whenever they approached him for tips. Most notably, Fedde said he had spoken with Kiwoom Heroes ace An Woo-jin about the pitch.

An has been one of Fedde's top rivals in major pitching categories. An leads the KBO with 119 strikeouts, 24 more than Fedde, but Fedde holds the edge in ERA, 1.61 to 2.24.

Their competition hasn't stopped Fedde from spreading the gospel of sweeper.

"I believe the baseball world is so small. Teaching things and sharing knowledge, I think, is important," Fedde told Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday before the Dinos faced An and the Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome.

"I think that the people that are curious and go search for the knowledge, those are the guys that get better and better," Fedde said. "And I think you see that especially with Woo-jin's success. He's not complacent, and that's a great thing to have."

Fedde quipped that he'd been asked about the sweeper by reporters "too many times" this season that "I feel like I could talk about it while I was asleep at this point."

Sharing what he knows with others, be they teammates or opponents, is Fedde's way of paying it forward.

"I give them the opportunity because I had to learn it," he said. "So if someone wasn't nice enough to teach me, then where would I be?"

Fedde also understands not everyone who has taken cues from him has been successful with the pitch.

"If they go out there and use it effectively, that's one thing," he said. "But even if I teach somebody, doesn't mean they're going to master it."

Indeed, few have been as effective with the sweeper this season as Fedde, who ranks third with 95 strikeouts.

That total would have been higher had Fedde not missed 11 days last month with a right forearm strain. He has racked up those Ks in just 78 1/3 innings, for a KBO-best 10.92 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and 30.4 percent strikeout percentage. An leads the way with 119, but he trails Fedde in both K/9 (10.64) and strikeout percentage (29.2).

Forearm trouble can be a precursor to more serious elbow problems. Fedde, who underwent Tommy John surgery to repair elbow ligament damage in 2014, said he didn't experience elbow issues this time and thanked the Dinos for taking good care of him.

"I told them that I was feeling a cramp, and I didn't feel comfortable probably going out and throwing 100 pitches that day," Fedde said of his scheduled start on June 15. "And they said, 'Well, you know what? You've worked really hard for us. Why don't we give you a 10-day break and just let yourself feel right and come back strong?' I'm lucky enough that the team was gracious enough to give me that opportunity. That's the kind of care that makes players want to come back."

Fedde's first start back from injury was wiped out by rain after one inning on June 25. He finally had his first full game back on June 28, when he threw six innings of one-hit ball against the Doosan Bears.

Fedde has thrown at least five innings in every start this year and has not allowed more than three runs in a game.

And given the work he'd done in the winter, Fedde said he is not entirely surprised to find himself leading the KBO in wins and ERA in the first week of July.

"It's something I wanted and I hoped for but to execute, it makes me feel really good and I'm very happy," he said. "If anything, it just makes me feel good about the hard work I put in the offseason to put myself in this situation."

(END)