Is Triple J shaking? don’t die
This season, the KIA bullpen has been reorganized to focus on the left hand. Although newcomer Kwak Do-gyu was recently eliminated from the first team, there are still Lee Joon-yeong, transfer student Kim Dae-yu, Kim Ki-hoon, who is in full-fledged return season after being discharged, and Choi Ji-min, who has grown up in his second year.
However, if you look closely, the special card used in a tense situation in the late game is Lee Jun-young. In addition, Kim Dae-yu and Kim Ki-hoon support him, and Choi Ji-min often pitches when he has a bit of free time. Coach Kim Jong-guk said that he would build a perfect winning team regardless of the hand and considering the pitch and condition, but in fact, the main setup man used at the most important moment is the right-hander.
Jeon Sang-hyun, a 27-year-old setup man who is also a member of Triple J. He only did not openly say that coach Kim was the main setup man, but after the opening, he took on the role that Jang Hyun-sik performed last year. Pace is good. 1.93 ERA with 2 holds in 6 games. 4⅔ innings, 4 hits (1 home run), 7 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 run, 1.93 ERA. WHIP 1.50 and batting average 0.222.
Jeon Sang-hyun has suffered quite a bit from injuries. In the 2019-2020 season, as a member of Pil Seung-jo, “Park Jeon-myeon,” he played 108⅓ innings in 104 games. In the end, I had to spend a significant period of the 2021 season in rehab due to shoulder pain. I had to be satisfied with an average ERA of 3.46 with 1 win and 7 holds in 15 games.
In the 2022 season, he performed well again. In 50 games, he was very active with 5 wins, 5 losses, 2 saves and 16 holds with an earned run average of 3.30. When Jang Hyun-sik’s pace was not good, he was in charge of the 8th in front of Jung Hae-young. However, it was a season that was not free from health issues, such as dropping out of the entry once due to elbow pain in the second half.
So this season is very important. Moreover, it is difficult for Jang Hyun-shik to rise to the first team in April due to surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow. Closer Jung Hae-young has a bad start in the season. Still, coach Kim Jong-guk said he had no intention of rushing Jang Hyeon-sik’s return from his three-game series of expeditions against Kiwoom last weekend. Jeon Sang-hyun is doing well, and considering the long-term race, Jeon Sang-hyun and Jang Hyun-sik should support Jung Hae-young in the end. In reality, it is not easy to manage a bullpen with only left-handed pitchers.
According to Statties, a baseball statistics site, Jeon Sang-hyun’s four-seam average velocity this season is 142.2 km. He’s slightly down from last year’s 143.1km, but there’s a good chance his velocity will go up after May when the temperature rises. Compared to last year, his use of the slider slightly lower and his four-seam use more can be read as his confidence in his four-seam skills. The actual fastball hit rate was 0.266 last year, but it fell further to 0.231 this year. 스포츠토토
In many ways, KIA should endure April and May well. It is also because of the reality without Na Seong-beom and Kim Do-young, but Jang Hyun-sik will return if the bullpen endures well in April. When Triple J is reunited, Jeon Sang-hyun’s load will be reduced, and there will be room for the left-handed bullpen to be used more efficiently. At this point, the KIA bullpen absolutely believes in Jeon Sang-hyun. Of course, the bullpen volume has improved, so there is no need to take responsibility for as many outcounts as in previous years.