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“I think it's going to help our bullpen”.
The Kia Tigers were fortunate to win two games using only two pitchers. They won 7-0 against the NC Dinos of the 2024 KBO Baseball World Series at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on April 24. The game was declared a rainout after the fifth inning due to heavy rain and unplayable field conditions.
Kia extended its winning streak to eight games and opened a seven-game lead over the second-place LG Twins, highlighted by Yang Hyun-jong's nine-inning, one-run complete game victory the day before and foreign pitcher Cam Aldred's five-inning, two-hit shutout with one walk and seven strikeouts. In the end, the two games were won with just two pitchers.
At the plate, Choi Won-joon and Kim Sun-bin shined. Choi extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a two-run double to right field in the second inning, following a throwing error by the opposing third baseman that scored two runs.
Kim Sun-bin put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo shot to left field (his seventh of the season). Kim Do-young followed up his two-run single with a diving catch of 토토사이트 추천 Seo Ho-cheol's grounder to second base in the bottom of the fifth to preserve Aldred's five-inning shutout.
After the game, Lee said, “Aldred pitched five shutout innings. It was definitely better than his last outing in terms of his velocity and delivery. It's also encouraging that he pitched well against right-handed batters,” Lee said.
“The batting lineup came out strong early on, which set the tone for the game. The extra-base hits by Choi Won-joon and Kim Do-young definitely gave us the lead, and Kim Sun-bin's home run helped us win the game.”
“We ended up with a five-inning game due to the sudden rain, but I think the fact that we finished the two midweek games with only starters will be very helpful for our bullpen in the future. Well done to all the players and thank you to the fans for their continued support.”
It's September 2nd of last year, and the Toronto Blue Jays are playing the Colorado Rockies. Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), Toronto's starting pitcher at the time, had a rather bizarre experience in the bottom of the fourth inning with his team trailing 1-2.
Facing Nolan Jones, Ryu worked a full count and drove an 88.8 mph fastball into the strike zone. It looked like it should have been a strikeout. But the umpire surprisingly called it a ball, and Jones walked away with a “lucky” double. Ryu struck out the next batter, Elefuris Montero, to end the inning, but it was a bizarre situation.
The umpire at the time was Angel Hernandez, 62, who is often called the “worst umpire” in the majors. Hernandez made a total of 21 strike-and-ball errors for both teams that day.
Hernandez eventually announced his retirement.
On Aug. 28, major U.S. media outlets, including The Athletic and USA Today, reported that Hernandez had announced his retirement. According to these reports, the Major League Baseball office first advised him to retire earlier this year, and the two sides discussed issues such as remaining salary over the past two weeks before reaching a conclusion last weekend.
Born in Cuba's capital city of Havana and brought to the United States with his family when he was 14 months old, Hernandez is a 34-year veteran of the game, having made his major league 카지노사이트 umpiring debut in 1991.
But he has long been considered one of the worst umpires in the game, with inconsistent strike-and-ball calls, frequent blown calls, and too many ejections. In a 2010 ESPN poll, 22% of players voted Hernandez the worst umpire in the game.
Most notably, in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Hernandez had three of his calls overturned by video review, prompting former Yankee CC Sabathia to criticize him after the game, saying, “I don't understand why he umpires.”
It wasn't just on the field that he got into trouble; in 2017, he lost a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, alleging that he was discriminated against in personnel and game assignments because of his Cuban ethnicity.
Against the backdrop of Hernandez's abrupt retirement after the MLB office repeatedly urged him to do so, The Athletic quoted his lawyer as saying, “What hurt him most was the pain his two daughters and wife would suffer if they knew that the criticism was unbelievably unfair.”
“I practiced a lot.”
Lee Jae-hak, 34, of the NC Dinos Submarines, has long been known as a fastball, changeup, and two-pitch pitcher. He's not overpowering, but he's also limited in his ability to diversify his pitch design, which is why he's felt stagnant for so long.
But like a swan in a lake, Lee Jae-hak may appear calm on the surface, but beneath the surface he has been diligently sharpening his weapons. The cutter. According to baseball stats site Statize, Lee didn't suddenly start throwing a cutter. He was still a two-pitch pitcher in 2023, throwing 8.7% sliders and 1.2% curveballs. The cutter was 0.2%.
This season, his curve is at 6.9 percent. On the 24th against the Jamsil Doosan Bears, he increased it to 15.2%. Then, against the LG Twins in Changwon on the 30th, he utilized 11 of them, 10.0%. While he used his cutter less frequently against LG Electronics than against Doosan, it's still a clear sign that he's making hitters realize that it's no longer a two-pitch pitch.
It was Lee's second consecutive Quality Start+ (7 innings, 3 earned runs or less). It had been 2212 days since April 10, 2018. Lee picked up his first win of the season against Dusan with seven innings of three-hit ball, five strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run. He followed that up with his second win of the season against LG with seven innings of five-hit ball, six strikeouts, and one walk. He lowered his ERA to 3.98.
“I tried to use a lot of cutters,” Lee said. LG has a lot of lefties (a right-hander's cutter usually digs into the left-hander's body), so I used it less than against Doosan, but I tried to mix it up at the right time. It should work against right-handed hitters. I've been practicing my cutter a lot, but I haven't tried it.”
It was catcher Park Se-hyuk who encouraged Lee to use the cutter more. “Se-hyeok actively told me to use it, and I changed my thinking. I didn't throw it much in the beginning, but now I started throwing it a lot. Coincidentally, after that day,” he said.
On April 14, Lee gave up six runs on six hits (two home runs) with four strikeouts and two walks in 3⅓ innings 바카라against Samsung Electronics in Daegu. The game was highly publicized for the umpires' error in receiving ABS. The umpire Lee Min-ho, who was the assistant manager at the time, even took off his clothes over the incident.
Lee Jae-hak said, “Coincidentally, I feel like I have good energy after that day. It's good to have a foothold in the team's victory. I've been playing with Se-hyeok this season, and I like him and (Kim) Hyung-joon. I'm grateful to Se-hyeok for leading us well this year.”
Lee Jae-hak's move away from his two-pitch arsenal in favor of his cutter has the effect of elevating the NC starting rotation to the next level. NC has a solid 1-3 starters in Daniel Castano, Kyle Hart, and Shin Min-hyuk. Lee Jae-hak and Kim Si-hoon round out the 4-5 starters. NC is now within one game of first-place KIA thanks to the strength on the mound.
