Are they slow starters? It’s heartbreaking for heroes.
Kiwoom’s runner-up in the Korean Series last year is dominated by the evaluation that it was a performance that far surpassed the team average and exceeded expectations. Park Byeong-ho (KT), Cho Sang-woo (social service worker), and Park Dong-won (then KIA) left in turn. It was ranked at the bottom, but had a season of great reversals.
Therefore먹튀검증, if Kiwoom is to seriously challenge to win the Korean Series in Lee Jung-hoo’s last season, it is essential to reinforce his strength. Director Go Hyeong-wook was well aware of this. Last winter, Lee Hyung-jong was added to the center batting line and outfield, and Won Jong-hyun was added to the bullpen. Excluding the case of Lee Taek-geun, who was traded to LG and then regained from the free agent market, Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun are in fact the first outside free agents since the club was founded.
It also moved quickly in the trade market. They sent Kim Tae-hoon to Samsung and received Lee Won-seok, a proven corner infielder. I balanced my strength by filling the infield, outfield and bullpen with veterans. It was evaluated that Kiwoom’s power this season was in the mid-level.
However, the two months since the opening are disappointing. 17 wins and 24 losses due to a loss against KIA in Gwangju on the 20th. 8th, 9 games behind co-leaders SSG and LG. It was only 3.5 games ahead of the lowest KT. Even with the joining of veterans, the production of other lines does not get out of the bottom ranks. On the mound, the ups and downs of foreign pitchers, the weakness of the back end of the starting lineup, and the weakness of the bullpen from the second half of last year are still the same.
Free agents recruited from outside are not doing their job. Hyungjong Lee has 33 hits in 141 at-bats, a batting average of 0.234, 1 home run, 14 RBIs, 15 runs, and an OPS of 0.688 in 39 games this season. In the last 10 games, he scored 5 hits in 30 at-bats with a batting average of 0.167 and 3 RBIs. Nonetheless, in the game on the 20th, coach Hong Won-ki threw Lee Hyung-jong in the second batting order, but failed.
Lee Hyung-jong had a batting average of 0.180 in May with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. His long hits in May were all three doubles. Lee Jung-hoo improved his condition a lot, but the synergy was not produced due to Lee Hyung-jong’s hunting. It is true that the flow of the batting line looks frustrating as even Edison Russell went through a period of adjustment after a big success at the beginning of the season.
Won Jong-hyun was absent due to an arm injury after the opening two games against Hanwha on April 1-2, but returned to play on the 20th. He pitched cleanly with one scoreless inning. Anyway, it’s almost two months since the start of the season, and it’s fatal that I only started in three games. Coach Hong Won-ki initially conceived of a plan to run Pil Seung-jo, with Won Jong-hyun as the main setup man for the 8th inning, but it went wrong with the opening of the season. Finisher Kim Jae-woong appears in the match in the 7th and 8th episodes, and he barely survives with the irregularity of appointing veteran Lim Chang-min as the finisher in the 9th episode.
In addition, he is not a free agent, but Lee Won-seok, a transfer student, is also not good after wearing a Kiwoom uniform. He played 19 games for Samsung this season and made a big success with a batting average of 0.362, 1 home run, 10 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.969. However, according to Statiz, a baseball statistics site, after moving to Kiwoom, he had a batting average of 0.234, 1 home run, 5 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.579 in 20 games. Even considering that it was so good at Samsung at the beginning of the season that it was time for the cycle to drop, the halved result is shocking for Kiwoom.
He still has plenty of room to hit. It is clear that the team’s strength has improved compared to last year. Coach Hong also said at the time of the 3rd home game against Doosan in the middle of the week, “The team has grown in age as veterans have joined, but it will be of great help in the ranking fight at the end of the season.” In the end, it is the belief that the average of veterans will lead to an improvement in team power.
Kiwoom must successfully lead Lee Hyeong-jong to escape from the slump, Won Jong-hyun to recover his condition, and Lee Won-seok to reorganize. It is the key to leaping to the middle ranks.