Kiwoom and NC are shaking the game in the early stages of professional baseball.
Kiwoom, which was considered the weakest this season, ranked third with seven consecutive wins after the opening four consecutive losses, and NC, which was excluded from this year’s fifth-place candidate even though it did well to rank fourth last year, is ranking first with nine wins and four losses. The two teams have created a big gap in their power as 2022 MVP Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco) and 2023 MVP Eric Peddy (Chicago White Sox) advanced to the Major League this year, respectively, but they continue to do well unexpectedly.
In particular, Kiwoom has strong fever. Although Lee Jung-hoo is absent and ace Ahn Woo-jin is not in the military, the team is rapidly filling the vacancy with new players as it is well-versed in nurturing. Lee Ju-hyung, who was acquired from LG in a trade last year, has established himself as a substitute for Lee Jung-hoo, and rookies such as Son Hyun-ki and Jeon Jun-pyo have made remarkable strides on the mound.
Lee Joo-hyung, who had been absent from the opening entry due to a hamstring injury, led Kiwoom’s counterattack by swinging a batting average of 0.524 (11 hits in 21 times at bat) as soon as he returned home early this month. Kim Hye-sung, who aims to advance to the big leagues after this season, and Cho Sang-woo, who returned from military service, are serving as pillars of pitching and hitting, while veteran batter Lee Hyung-jong is also helping in the center lineup.
The three consecutive games against the Hanwha Eagles, in which teams that have won consecutive games over the past five to seven days, were a series that demonstrated Kiwoom’s momentum. Kiwoom successively defeated the powerful starting pitchers Ryu Hyun-jin and Felix Peña that Hanwha boasts. On Wednesday, it gave Hanwha starter Ryu Hyun-jin a loss by scoring nine runs (4.1 innings) for the first time since his professional debut. The next day, Peña was also exited early on by allowing six runs (four earned) in three innings. The team struggled against starter Kim Min-woo on Tuesday by allowing one run in five innings, but Captain Kim Hye-sung ended the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the 11th inning.
“Baseball is for the 10th-ranked team to beat the first-ranked team,” Kim Hye-sung said. “We were able to continue the atmosphere well because the players worked hard without paying attention to external evaluation.” Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki also said, “The players seem to have become insensitive to the evaluation and gaze around them,” adding, “Since there are still many games left, it is important to maintain our composure and continue doing what we need to do rather than winning consecutive games.”
NC Dinosaurs have stable pitching and hitting ability. Although there is no ace pitcher who achieved the Triple Crown (number one in multiple wins, ERA) for the first time as a foreign pitcher last year, newly recruited Daniel Castano is doing his part. He played three times with two wins and no loss with an ERA of 0.93. Second starter Kyle Hart is also showing good pitching with two wins and no loss with an ERA of 3.00. Shin Min-hyuk is filling the gap between Korean and American ace Koo Chang-mo with two wins and one loss and an ERA of 1.56.
The batting line was properly harmonized with the new and old players supported by “young blood” such as Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hyung-joon, led by veterans such as Son A-seop, Park Gun-woo and Park Min-woo. When sweeping the three consecutive games against SSG from the 5th to the 7th, the batting line exploded 31 points. NC manager Kang In-kwon expressed satisfaction, saying, “The entire team has a very high concentration,” adding, “It seems that it is a good atmosphere for the seniors and juniors to have fun in a comfortable atmosphere.”
BY: 안전놀이터