Win-loss margin '-14' from the bottom to '+17' 2nd place 'Magic', 'win rate 100%' If there had been no foreign luck...
KT Wiz had a difficult time at the beginning of this season. Key players left the team due to injuries. Foreign pitchers contin…When they lost their home game against the Doosan Bears on June 2, KT's record was 16 wins, 2 draws, and 30 losses, the lowest win-loss margin of '-14'. But after that, KT’s counterattack began. In June, they repeated winning and losing streaks and finished with a record of 15 wins and 8 losses. It rose from 10th to 7th place.
KT’s momentum was scary. Looking at their performance since July 1st, they recorded 48 wins, 1 draw, and 25 losses. They achieved an overwhelming win rate of 0.658. In the end, KT fell to the bottom, but rose to second place. They finished the regular season by winning a playoff ticket with a record of 79 wins, 3 draws, and 62 losses.
KT coach Lee Kang-cheol selected William Cuevas as the key player who was able to rebound. Cuevas returned to KT in mid-June as a replacement foreign pitcher for Bo Schulser. He pitched in 18 games and achieved good results with 12 wins, 114 ⅓ innings, 33 runs (33 earned), 26 walks, 100 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.60. He was the first player in the KBO League to win the league with a 100% winning percentage.
In particular, in the game where Cuevas appeared, KT achieved good results of 14 wins and 4 losses. The return of ‘Bokdong’ was a factor in the upward trend in the second half of the season.
won 14 games. Of the games that Cuevas played, we won all but 4 of them," and added, "But that's important, but the starting lineup, which was shaken with the arrival of Cuevas, has a sense of stability." “I got it back,” he said.
He continued, “With Cuevas taking his place, (Go) Youngpyo, (Wes) Benjamin, (Eom) Sangbaek, and (Bae) Jeseong were all able to go without shaking. Such a synergy effect emerged. The effect of 12 wins + α was seen. “I think he led a lot of innings. Thanks to that, we were able to save a lot of bullpen power,” he said, adding, “The club moved quickly and made a replacement in a difficult situation. That became a turning point.”