Sik's batting lineup…Will KT find a breakthrough after 'three consecutive losses after one win'?
KT, led by head coach Lee Kang-chul, will clash with the LG Twins in Game 5 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Korean Series at 6:30 p.m. on the 13th at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The starting pitcher is Ko Young-pyo.
KT, which achieved a "reverse sweep" with three consecutive wins after two consecutive losses in the playoffs against the NC Dinos, gained momentum and won 3-2 in Game 1 of the Korean Series against the LG Twins. Even though he only had a day off, the green light turned on for the "V2" challenge as he continued the atmosphere.
However, the joy was brief, and KT lost both Game 2 (4-5) and Game 3 (7-8) by one point. It lost 4-15 in Game 4 on the 11th, the first and last daytime game since the start of the Korean Series. If he loses one more time in the rest of the series, KT's challenge to win will be frustrated.
The first factor that forced KT's rise to decline was also physical strength. Son Dong-hyun and Park Young-hyun, who were no different than supports, have already put a lot of energy into the playoffs. In the case of Son Dong-hyun, all five playoff games were marked as attendance, and Park Young-hyun also took the mound four times.
As the close game continued in the Korean Series, the two players accounted for a large portion, and they both pitched in relief in Games 1 to 3 of the Korean Series. I couldn't cope with the physical burden and made a worse result than the previous series. Son Dong-hyun and Park Young-hyun's current Korean Series performance is two hits (one homer) in two ⅔ innings, two strikeouts and two strikeouts in two ⅔ innings, two hits (one homer) and two strikeouts and two runs, respectively.
On top of that, even "Closer" Kim Jae-yoon, who boasted solidity throughout the season, is shaking. In the playoffs, he pitched twice and earned saves with stable pitches, while in Game 2-4 of the Korean Series, he was sluggish with four hits (two homers) in three innings, two outs and one strikeout and five runs. In particular, in Game 4, the coaching staff put in Kim Jae-yoon in the middle of the game to ease the burden a little, but as this became toxic, the gap between LG and KT widened further.
As a result, it is difficult to find a pitcher who can reliably trust after the middle of the game, and there is no alternative except for Lee Sang-dong. Kim Young-hyun, Kim Min, Joo Kwon, and Bae Je-sung, who took the mound in Game 4, all scored runs, causing the coaching staff to worry with unsatisfactory pitching content.
The situation in the batting lineup is also not good. The only home run KT hit in the Korean Series was Park Byung-ho's come-from-behind two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 3. This is in contrast to LG, which hit as many as eight home runs in four games. Park Byung-ho, who tasted it, has failed to rebound after the home run, staying silent with two hits in 15 at-bats, a batting average of 0.133 one homer and two RBIs in four games, while foreign hitter Anthony Alford is also below expectations with two hits in 12 at-bats and a batting average of 0.167 one RBI.
Not everyone is sluggish. Some batters are doing their part, including Bae Jung-dae (five hits in 11 at-bats, 0.455 two RBIs), who put pressure on the opponent with a high batting average of more than 400%, and Hwang Jae-kyun (five hits in 14 at-bats, 0.357 four RBIs), who coordinated the batting sense through the third and fourth games. However, compared to LG, which threatens opposing pitchers regardless of batting order from No. 1 to No. 9, the batting lineup is less heavy.
The first task is for Ko Young-pyo, who will face Casey Kelly in Game 5 on the 13th, to play as many innings as possible. In addition, the batting line must burst from the beginning of the game in order for the entire team to play the game easily. If even one thing goes wrong, Game 5 could flow in a similar way to Game 4.
In 2013, there was only one case in which a team that had 1 win and 3 losses in the KBO Korean Series won three consecutive games and won a dramatic championship. Although the chances of winning the championship have decreased in reality, KT still did not let go of hope. Can KT, which had a magical season with the achievement of advancing to the Korean Series after jumping from 10th place to 2nd place in the regular season, announce the prelude to a reversal in Game 5.