Four of the five losses are 'reversal losses'...KIA, which has to endure, has to endure the bullpen
Four of the five losses are 'reversal losses'...KIA, which has to endure, has to endure the bullpen
Blog Article
Kia ranks seventh overall with three wins and five losses (win percentage 0.35) as of Sunday when it has no baseball league. Compared to last year when it won the title of "unified championship," the team is full of unfamiliar numbers in terms of win, loss and win percentage and ranking. Last season, Kia recorded six wins and two losses (win percentage 0.750) in its opening eight games.
With the 2025 season just around the corner, Kia has been singled out as the overwhelming favorite among most experts. A bullpen session boasting strong batting lineup and thick depth is expected to lead Kia's advance. However, Kia has faced unfavorable factors such as cracks in its team's biggest strength since its opening game.
Kim Do-young, MVP of the 2024 regular season, injured his left hamstring during the opening game against NC Dinosaurs, and was out of the lineup. Park Chan-ho, the "30% shortstop," also injured his right knee while stealing a base in the game against Kiwoom on Saturday. Park Chan-ho, who was diagnosed with a sprain, has been excluded from the entry list for the first team.
Kia is the only team in the league to have a batting average of over 300 last year. Not only Kim Do-young, who had a "monster season" with a batting average of 0.347, 38 homers and 109 RBIs, but also Park is playing in the early stages without being the "vanguard" of the team's offense. Contrary to what was feared, the lineup is filling the void of key players. Patrick Wisdom, Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo are in turn serving as troubleshooters, while Kim Sun-bin, the MVP of last year's Korean Series, also maintained a robust batting average of 0.440. His team's batting average also exceeds the average of 0.259 with 0.283.
The most prominent problem so far is the bullpen session. KIA had stable performance after Doosan (4.54) and Samsung (4.97) with 4.98 ERA of its relief pitchers last year, when its pitching and pitching trend was strong. It had a winning rate of 0.863 if it leads through the fifth inning, and 0.929 if it leads through the seventh inning. It did not lose games where it deployed the must-win group.
Although the game is still in its infancy, the team sometimes missed games due to unexpected trouble in the bullpen. Four out of five losses are "reversal losses." The game was overturned twice in games leading up to the seventh inning. On Thursday, the team lost 3-5 to Kiwoom as its closing pitcher Jung Hae-young collapsed in the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead. On Sunday, the team led the game 4-3 until the seventh inning, but lost the game 4-5 in the eighth inning as Cho Sang-woo faltered.
Kia ranks ninth in the league with 8.07 ERA in its bullpen pitcher lineup. Major bullpen pitchers such as Jeon Sang-hyun and Jung Hae-young were also shaken, leading to instability in the back door. Cho Sang-woo's performance in the match against the Hanwha Eagles for the first time in a long time is welcome news to Kia. Jo, who wore Kia's uniform through an off-season trade, contributed to the team's 5-3 victory by pitching 1.2 innings of two strikeouts and no runs. Jung also garnered one scoreless inning, providing an opportunity for his team to rebound. 스포츠토토
With Kim Do-young out, it is unreasonable to expect the scoring ability of the "complete lineup." However, the current lineup also has the ability to score points needed to win. That the starting mound is not behind