The KIA Tigers are on an 8-game winning streak, but there are cracks in the starting rotation.
One spot was left vacant after foreign pitcher Mario Sanchez left the team after receiving a three-week diagnosis. The alternative card that the KIA bench brought out was substitute selection. Kim Geon-guk (35), Kim Jae-yeol (27), and Hwang Dong-ha (21), who had consistently received selection lessons from the Futures (2nd team) team, were selected as replacements. The plan was to operate a so-called ‘tandem’, with two of them sharing 2 to 3 innings each in a game.메이저사이트
However, a strange trend continues.
Gwangju NC Dinos game on the 29th of last month. KIA announced that Kim Geon-guk would be selected for this game. However, due to heavy rain, it was decided to cancel the event due to rain. The next day, KIA coach Kim Jong-guk announced that Thomas Panoni would be selected instead of Kim Geon-guk. As the use of substitute selections was canceled, it was possible to match the normal selection rotation dates. Panoni, who had an extra day off due to the cancellation of the game on the 30th, took the mound on the 31st, and KIA hit NC Dinos ace Eric Peddie to a 13-3 victory and their 5th consecutive win.
Plans for a second replacement were also not implemented. Manager Kim announced that Hwang Dong-ha would be the first pitcher for the Jamsil Doosan Bears game on the 5th. Coach Kim urged good performance, saying, “Even if it’s not a long innings, I hope we can clearly show a strong image.” However, just before the game, heavy rain suddenly poured down at Jamsil Stadium, and the decision was made to cancel due to rain. Rather than delaying Hwang Dong-ha’s appearance by a day, Coach Kim chose to increase Panoni according to the existing rotation.
A substitute starting pitching game is called a ‘bullpen day.’ It’s icing on the cake if the starting pitcher throws long innings, but most of the time, he comes out with the ‘replacement’ tag. Even though Futures has prepared a lot, there are bound to be limits to beating the first-team bats. Therefore, most teams that hire replacement starters choose to activate the bullpen early when the batting order is about one turn. Regardless of win or loss, there will be a significant burden on the bullpen, and it will inevitably be affected in the subsequent game.
The 2023 KBO League match between KIA Tigers and Samsung Lions was held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 20th. KIA Hwang Dong-ha is replaced in the bottom of the 5th inning and is receiving encouragement from pitching coach Seo Jae-eung. Daegu = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com/2023.08.20/
KIA currently has the largest number of remaining games among the 10 teams in the KBO League. Although they have recently made a leap forward with an eight-game winning streak, there is still a long way to go to solidify fall baseball. Although one win is disappointing, considering the number of games remaining, the winning process is also important. In this situation, a situation is being created in which bullpen exhaustion due to replacement starters is avoided and the normal starting rotation is continued one after another.
Although there is still a lot of homework to do, this unintended good fortune is worthy of making KIA smile.