SSG Landers coach Kim Won-hyung (51) selected the bullpen as the key to the fierce battle for the top five and hoped that the pitchers would learn from the confident pitching of foreign player Roenis Elias (34).
Ahead of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season away game between Kiwoom Heroes and the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season game to be held at Gocheok Sky Dome located in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 28th, Manager Kim Won-hyung said, “If I had to pick one area where I would like to see a little more strength in the remaining games, it would be the bullpen.” These days, starting pitchers are doing their jobs well. If the starter throws 5 to 6 innings, the bullpen has to block the 7th to 9th innings. If he blocks the game in a close game, it will lead to a victory, which will improve the team spirit and build strength. “Unlike at the beginning of the season, the bullpen pitchers have lost a little bit of strength,” he said.
Currently, with 14 games left, SSG is in a fierce battle for the semifinals with 65 wins, 4 draws, and 62 losses, 2 games behind 4th place Doosan Bears and 1 game behind 6th place KIA Tigers. In a situation where one win, one win is important, it is inevitable that the bullpen pitcher suddenly collapses and gives up a game. That was the case in the first game of the double header against Doosan on the 27th. SSG was ahead 3-0 until the 6th inning, but the winning team of Noh Kyung-eun, Ko Hyo-jun, and Kun-wook Lee could not last one inning in the 7th and gave up 7 runs, ending the game in a 7-7 tie.
In the second half of the season, Ko Hyo-jun, an unstoppable winner, has an ERA of 8.02 in 28 games, and Noh Kyung-eun has an ERA of 4.60 in 27 games, which are not good, but there is no pitcher who can push them out. Choi Min-jun, who led the bullpen in the first half of the season, also has his ups and downs due to a loss of strength in his ball after a hip injury. Coach Kim said, “(For the rest of the season), I think we should go with the players we have now. It would be disappointing for the other players to be in the sure-to-win group now. (Go) Hyo-jun also had a bad last game, but he will play well in the next game. “I believe he will do it. (Choi) Min-jun was also in a bad mood for a while due to injury, but he has been showing signs of recovery recently. I think we will have to manage according to the situation,” he said.
I hoped that he would pitch confidently like Elias,바카라 who has recently been leading the SSG mound.
Elias is contributing greatly to the battle for the top five by recording 1 win, 1 loss, and an average ERA of 2.38 in 5 games in September .
Coach Kim said, “I hope other pitchers will learn from why Elias throws with such confidence in his ball, instead of just exclaiming, ‘Elias throws well.’ Elias did not gain confidence simply because he could throw a ball as fast as 150 km/h. Elias is the type of player who confidently competes with batters. If you think baseball is difficult, it becomes more difficult. When you put a strike, you throw it in, and if you want to lead, you lead. If you think simply, that is confidence. Seeing Elias like that, the players also “I hope you’ll think about it at least once,” he said.
SSG is Choo Shin-soo (designated hitter) – Oh Tae-gon (first baseman) – Choi Joo-hwan (second baseman) – Guillermo Heredia (center fielder) – Han Yu-seom (right fielder) – Ha Jae-hoon (left fielder) – Choi Hang (third baseman) – Kim Seong-hyun (shortstop) – Kim Min-sik (Catcher) was the batting order. The starter is Oh Won-seok.
To counter this, Kiwoom is Park Soo-jong (right fielder) – Ronnie Dawson (left fielder) – Lee Joo-hyung (center fielder) – Lim Ji-yeol (first baseman) – Song Seong-moon (third baseman) – Kim Hwi-jip (shortstop) – Park Chan-hyuk (designated hitter) – Kim Si-ang (catcher) – Kim Byeong-hwi (Second baseman) was the batting lineup. The starter is Ariel Hurado.