Before signing with the Kiwoom Heroes in South Korea, Ian McKinney had been pulling double duty as starter and pitching coach for his independent ball club, the Gastonia Honey Hunters in the Atlantic League.
And the 28-year-old left-hander has brought his "coaching mentality" to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, McKinney spoke about how coaching has afforded him a new perspective, which in turn has benefited him on the mound when he's doing the pitching.
"I think it helped me personally because, one, I was able to dive deeper into other people so I was able to see what they did right and what they did wrong and then I subconsciously was able to do that to myself," McKinney said at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. "Also, I was able to step back away from my own pitching. I was able to focus on 14 other pitchers and not have all this pressure of just me pitching myself. So I think that helps me a lot."
The Heroes acquired McKinney last month to replace injured left-hander Eric Jokisch, and they are not paying McKinney US$185,000 to be their pitching coach. Still, McKinney said he hasn't changed his approach to his craft after moving to South Korea.
"I'm not trying to be the coach, but I have that coaching mentality where I want our whole team to succeed," he said. "I've been having more baseball sense because, as a starter, you get in this lull of, 'OK, I only have to pitch one game for five to nine innings, and then I just go back into the dugout and check out for five games.' But as a coach, you know every pitch, every swing, every single situation. I'm constantly thinking, 'How can we win this game?' And I think I've brought that into the game with me. So it's definitely been nice doing that."
McKinney has made two starts here so far. He went four innings and gave up two runs on five hits against the Doosan Bears on June 25. Then last Saturday, McKinney tossed six scoreless innings against the SSG Landers, striking out five and allowing only three hits.
In between those two starts, McKinney also watched his team play the Kia Tigers. He came away impressed with the high quality of the KBO.
"It's a good league with a lot of good hitters," he said. "I think the defense here is better than in the States, and a lot of guys put the ball in play more and don't strike out as much. All in all, it's good baseball."
In particular, McKinney marveled at Korean hitters' ability to foul off pitch after pitch to stay alive on two-strike counts.
With his sharp set of eyes, McKinney has identified some weaknesses in KBO hitters.
"I think the change of speeds affects hitters a lot more here, whereas I think pitch shapes in America make a little more difference there," he said. "I guess hitters (in the KBO) are more inclined to reach out in front and sacrifice hard contact and put the ball in play. So that kind of makes them susceptible to off-speed pitches that are relatively slower."
He attributed his success in the second outing to his attack mindset.
"My second game, I definitely made it a point to attack more of the middle of the zone as opposed to try and be too cute," he said. "I got early contact and early weak contact, which is good."
At his heart, though, McKinney is someone who tries to pitch to his strengths, instead of exploiting opponents' weaknesses.
"The only weaknesses I try and capitalize on are swing tendencies. If someone swings super aggressive early on fastballs, then I might not throw a fastball in that count," he said. "Or if they're super aggressive in 3-2 counts and like to swing and miss a lot, then I don't need to throw a fastball in that count. I can throw a breaking pitch in the dirt and trust that I'm going to have a better result. So little things like that, but I think for the most part you've got to stick to your strengths."
McKinney is learning about the KBO on the fly. He said he didn't know much about the league before coming over and added, "It's unfortunate because it's a really good league, and I feel like I'm having a great time, and I wish other people in the States knew that this was such a great spot to be in."
McKinney said he and his wife of almost three years, Jessica, have "always been on the go" for the past four years, as the pitcher's baseball career took him from Arkansas to California, Washington, North Carolina and now Seoul. That experience has made the transition "not that difficult" for McKinney.
Playing in front of loud fans has made his adjustments even easier.
"If you're in America and you hear a walkup song still playing while you're about to pitch, everyone's getting mad. But here it's constant noise and constant music, which is good," McKinney said. "We're here for the fans. We're not here necessarily for ourselves. We want to bring entertainment to the fans so I think they do a really good job here."
McKinney has big shoes to fill following the departure of Jokisch, who had been among the KBO's very best starters since arriving here in 2019. McKinney said his No. 1 goal is to finish the rest of the season healthy and then to help the Heroes reach the postseason.
Through Wednesday's action, the Heroes were in sixth place at 38-39-2 (wins-losses-ties), just half a game out of the fifth and final playoff spot.
"I definitely want to go out there and win every chance I get because winning a championship would be sick," he said. "The crowds here are great right now, but I can only imagine playoff baseball around here. That would be electric."
Source: Yonhap News Agency