“It would have been a relief if it had been 8 wins...”
“It’s even more unfortunate that it ended like this because I’m a human being.”
After completing the 2023 season, KIA Tigers Yang Hyeon-jong (36) said this.
The 10-win streak came to a halt after nine seasons. He achieved 10 wins for 9 consecutive years, starting with 16 wins in 2014 and ending with 12 wins in 2022. However, his record last year was 9 wins and 11 losses, just one win short. He tried to surpass the record of 10 wins for 10 consecutive years set by KT Wiz coach Lee Kang-cheol, whom he regarded as his idol, during his active career, but was unable to achieve it. Yang Hyun-jong said, “If (the season) had ended with 8 wins, I would have thought with relief, ‘I should prepare well next year,’ but as I am only human, I think it is even more disappointing that it ended with 9 wins.” He continued, "It was my goal in baseball life to break Coach Lee's records one by one. I thought I would become a player recognized by the coach only if I achieved them." He continued, "I couldn't achieve one of the coaches' records. I'm still not good enough to surpass the coach. “I think so,” he said.
Yang Hyun-jong is still a man of records.
Hyeonjong Yang set meaningful records last year. Youngest player in the KBO League with 160 wins, most starts and most wins, 2nd place in individual career wins, achieved 100 innings for 10 consecutive seasons and 1,900 strikeouts for the 2nd time in history, 3rd player in history to strike out triple digits for 9 consecutive seasons, and 3rd player with 2,300 innings, 170 innings for 9 consecutive seasons, so much so that it is difficult to count them all.
The record streak continues this year as well. The new records for most career starts (383 games) and most starts (166 wins) are updated every time Yang Hyun-jong starts and wins this season. If he adds 101 strikeouts, he will be on par with Song Jin-woo's KBO League personal record of most strikeouts (2,048).
However, what is more important than the record is the number of wins that the native ace will accumulate. This is because the team's performance will only follow if it meets the number of innings and wins expected from the core of the starting lineup.
Last year, the only pitcher who achieved double-digit wins in KIA was Lee Ui-ri (22, 11 wins). Both foreign pitchers were replaced before the end of the first half, and Yang Hyun-jong stopped at 9 wins. The fact that Yoon Young-cheol (20), a rookie, recorded 8 wins was some consolation, but the lack of a pitcher with 10 wins, who was considered a 'guarantee of team victory', was one of the reasons KIA failed to advance to the fall baseball season.
Yang Hyun-jong is still evaluated as a pitcher who can achieve double-digit wins. Some say that as he enters his late 30s, his pitching and velocity have declined, but he is overcoming difficulties with his pitch control and skillful fighting skills. He is a pitcher with sufficient innings ability, exceeding 170 innings for 9 consecutive seasons. However, the goal support of 2.79 points, which is lower than last year's league average (3.23 points), and how to overcome the ups and downs that appeared in the second half of the year will likely be the key to returning to 10 wins.
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