Chang Hyun-jin graduated from Seoul High School, a prestigious school in Korea, and after graduation joined an independent Japanese league, an unusual path for baseball in both Korea and Japan.

Immediately after graduating from high school, he played for the Tokushima Indigo Sox for two years starting in 2023, and then starting this year he play for the Kufu Hayate Ventures Shizuoka.

After not being drafted in his third year of high school, Chang decided to join the Tokushima Indigo Sox, an independent Japanese league team, because he wanted to play more baseball, rather than prioritizing his studies.

However, Zhang was only 18 years old at the time and decided to play overseas despite not being able to speak a word of Japanese.

"I was very nervous. In my first year in Japan, I kept saying that I wanted to go home. So, after the first half of the season was over, I really did go back to Korea.But then I realized that there was no point in doing that. I decided to make up my mind to play in Japan.From then on, I wanted to become a Japanese person, so I worked hard to learn Japanese and did everything just like the Japanese players, and gradually I got used to Japanese culture."

What surprised Zhang about the Japanese baseball world was the length of time spent practicing defense.

"In Korea, most of the practice time is spent on batting. But in Japan it's different. There is a lot more knocking.First we practiced defense, then batting, and finally we practiced defense as a team again. I was surprised. But I think that helped me improve my defense.By playing in many games, I was able to watch the batter's swing and predict what kind of hit the ball would be."

Currently, Zhang play both infield and outfield, but his greatest selling point remains his hitting ability.From his first year with the Tokushima Indigo Sox, Zhang was assigned the number 4 batting position.Last season, he played in 46 games and had a batting average of .288. Also, what is noteworthy is his speed of growth.In his first year, he struck out 46 times, but in his second year, that number dropped to 20. This year, he transferred to the Kufu Hayate Ventures Shizuoka, where he is performing well both batting and defensively.

Zhang also said the biggest change he's noticed during his two years playing in Japan is his mindset.

”In my high school days, when I was not doing well, I would take out my frustration on my equipment and had other negative aspects. However, after coming to Japan, I saw how the players around me quickly calmed down even in frustrating situations, and I heard them say that they only reflected on their play after the game was over. I decided to do the same, and my attitude changed.In the second half of my first season, I made up my mind to become like the Japanese and worked hard at it, which helped me to become mentally stronger and I think that has translated into better baseball results.”

Zhang, who has played in Japan and grown to like Japanese baseball, just turned 21 in May of this year.He mastered Japanese in just six months and can speak it fluently.He has the potential to be successful in any country in the future. We look forward to seeing Jang Hyun Jin's future success.

Interview, Japanese text by Myu Yasuda