the representative young blood of the KBO league, have not been unusual this season.
In an exhibition game against Kiwoom Heroes held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 23rd, Won Tae-in became the second pitcher after starter Jang Pil-joon and showed perfect pitching for 4 innings. He struck out 5 batters in 12 batters.
It was literally a good fight to clear먹튀검증 the concerns around him in his first appearance after the WBC controversy.
Won Tae-in fell short of expectations at the WBC. He appeared in 3 out of 4 games in the first round, but his earned run average reached 6.23 with 3 walks, 5 strikeouts and 3 runs in 4⅓ innings.
In the first game against Australia, he started as the first bullpen following starter Koh Young-pyo (kt) and pitched well in 1⅓ innings, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, and no run. He struck out 1 and gave up 1 run.
Then, after two days off, he started the 4th game against China, but allowed 2 runs with 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts in 1 inning. He resigned after one inning against China, where the starting pitcher was considered to be under-performing.
When he played sluggishly in the match against China, he played 4 games and threw 108 balls before the evaluation against the Japanese professional baseball team, and there was even talk that he suffered from overwork.
However, Won Tae-in, who quickly cleared away these concerns during the demonstration game, said in an interview after the game, “I learned a lot while watching the ball throwing balance at the WBC and realized how to throw it. When he pitched, he thought that it was more important to throw accurately than to throw hard,” he said.
Kang Baek-ho is nicknamed ‘genius hitter’, but last season was a year of trials.
Kang Baek-ho, who received all sorts of criticism after being caught chewing gum with a dull expression in a dugout at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (actually held in 2021), suffered a toe fracture just before the start of the 2020 season, and was unable to play for most of the first half, and even after returning, he suffered a hamstring injury. Injuries and sluggishness caught the ankle.
With a batting average of 0.245, 6 homers, and an OPS of 0.683, the term ‘genius hitter’ was embarrassing. In addition, his annual salary this season was also cut by a whopping 47.3% to 290 million won, and his pride was greatly damaged.
Kang Baek-ho has changed.
The beginning of his revival was the WBC. The Korean national team stayed in 3rd place with 2 wins and 2 losses and tasted the misfortune of being eliminated in the first round of the WBC 3 times in a row. swung The absurd ceremony out in the game against Australia became a ‘tit of jade’, but it was enough to announce the revival of a genius hitter.
After returning to Korea after the WBC, he continued to feel good hitting in the demonstration game.
On the 20th, Kang Baek-ho, who played his first actual game as a pinch hitter in an exhibition game against the Suwon Doosan Bears, reported a hit from the first at-bat, and on the 21st, he went on base with 2 hits and 2 walks in all at-bats.
In the match against LG on the 23rd, he started as a starting right fielder and then changed his defensive position to left fielder. After playing as an outfielder for the first two years of joining the pros, he turned to first baseman in 2020 and then changed his defensive position to an outfielder after three years.
He walked two and struck out only one in eight at-bats. 3 hits in 6 at-bats (0.500 Tall). While continuing to be in good condition for both his batting sense and forward vision, expectations are high for his performance this season.
Won Tae-in and Kang Baek-ho must restore their honor this season.
Won Tae-in stepped up to an ace with 14 wins in 2021, his third year as a professional, but last year he barely made up for 10 wins. Samsung slipped from 2nd place in the 2021 regular league to 7th place last year, and Samsung’s young blood, Won Tae-in, is also to blame. This season, Samsung is also a candidate for the bottom ranks. As a native ace, Won Tae-in is responsible for bringing the team to the top.
For Kang Baek-ho, this season is undoubtedly important. He was evaluated as a rival with Lee Jung-hoo, who was one year his senior, but the relationship completely fell apart last year. Lee Jung-hoo dominated the KBO league by winning 5 batting crowns last year and will advance to the major leagues after this season.
Let’s see if Won Tae-in and Kang Baek-ho can make this season as pitchers and batters who represent the KBO league in name and reality.