The Doosan Bears endured a week that seemed like it would never end. This is thanks to the good pitching of the replacement starting pitchers.
Doosan shared 1 win and 1 loss in a double header with the Samsung Lions held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 9th. It was foreign pitcher Brandon Waddell who brought in the first win. He threw 117 pitches and pitched 7 scoreless innings. The one who suffered the first loss was Jang Won-jun, the most senior player. He was the starting pitcher in Game 1, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings, recording his 3rd loss of the season.메이저사이트
Five innings is considered a basic requirement for a starting pitcher. However, Jang Won-Jun’s 5 innings cannot be seen as wasted. The game on the 9th was his first start in 73 days. He played a brief role as a substitute starter in the first half of the season, but he played a role that exceeded expectations in this long-awaited opportunity. Although Doosan lost the first game, Jang Won-jun, Park Shin-ji, and Choi Ji-gang blocked all of the games, minimizing the burden on the sure-to-win team. Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop also said before the Samsung game on the 10th, “Other than the home run (Oh Jae-il in the second inning), (Jang Won-jun) was good. I’m thinking about when to take the mound next.” He added, “All of our players are doing their best. I’m grateful to the players.” reported.
It was a result as important as victory. Doosan played a total of 8 games from the 3rd to the 10th, excluding the game postponed due to rain (5th). There was a lot of pressure because there was a Monday game and a Saturday double header in one week. Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “This could be the most important week of the year. It will be a little difficult for the players, but they need to focus more this week.”
Doosan, whose 4th and 5th starters all collapsed, had a heavy burden on the mound. It was announced last week that a large number of replacement starters would be used, but among them, the only one who showed good pace recently was left-handed pitcher Choi Seung-yong. It was difficult to have high expectations because he was also returning from injury.
When I lifted the veil, he exceeded my expectations. The starting lineup worked without any problems for a week as we reached the end of the series. Raul Alcantara (2 games, 13 innings, 4 earned runs) and Brandon’s long innings had a big impact. However, even if the one-two punch is good, if there is a game where the starting pitcher is ‘shattered in the first round’, the burden on the bullpen pitcher increases several times.
Choi Won-jun and Choi Seung-yong, along with Jang Won-jun, dispelled those concerns. Choi Won-jun pitched 5 innings without allowing a run in the game against the KIA Tigers on the 7th, when he was on a 9-game winning streak with peak batting ability. He pitched just 59 pitches, so if it weren’t for his blistered finger, he could have thrown more. Choi Seung-yong also gave up only 2 points on 74 pitches in 5 innings in the game against Samsung on the 8th. Although he did not become the winning pitcher, he laid the foundation for the team to turn around in the bottom of the 9th inning. In addition to Jang Won-jun’s good pitching on the 9th, Doosan completed the most important week without a hitch. This is thanks to the 15 innings accumulated by the three people.