SSG Landers is struggling to continue the mid-range competition.
As of Tuesday, SSG’s season performance is 51 wins, one draw and 52 losses (0.495), a 1.5-game gap with the fourth-ranked Doosan Bears. However, SSG, which is trailing sixth-ranked KT Wiz and seventh-ranked NC Dinos by 0.5 games, cannot guarantee a fifth-ranked team. 안전놀이터
SSG ended the first week of the second half with two consecutive wins. It had two wins and one loss at the Munhak Lotte Giants match on April 9-11, and also posted two wins and one loss at the Gwangju KIA Tigers match on April 12-14. However, it faltered when it lost at the LG Twins match at Jamsil Stadium on April 17, and was satisfied with recording one win and one loss against the Kiwoom Heroes on April 19 and 21.
Since then, SSG has been on a downward spiral. It has plunged into a three-game losing streak until the game against the Suwon KT Wiz from June 24 to 25. It was the third consecutive win in about a month since the game against the Daegu Samsung Lions on June 19 and the game against the NC Dinos in Munhak. It was clear that there was a sign of crisis.
SSG tried not to collapse. It achieved a three-game sweep at the Munhak Doosan Bears match on June 26-28, and beat the Munhak Lotte Giants match on June 30-31, securing a five-game winning streak. In the game against Lotte, it scored a combined 23 points in two games, sending shockwaves throughout the Lotte Giants’ mound. The team’s batting lineup, which boasts high-quality offense, seemed to have clearly awakened.
However, the trend did not last long. SSG, which ended its winning streak by losing to Lotte on Wednesday, suffered a bitter taste in away games in Daegu. It suffered a sweep loss without even a single win at the match against Samsung Electronics in Daegu on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Notably, the team was in deep slump. It bowed its head to 12 runs on Thursday and 13 pitches on Wednesday. As a result, the team’s win rate dropped by 50 percent.
The biggest problem is the mound. Korean starters Kim Kwang-hyun and Oh Won-seok struggled with one win and two losses and an earned run average of 5.33 in five games and 27 innings, and one loss and an earned run average of 7.59 in four games and 10 ⅔ innings, respectively, while Kim Kwang-hyun was sluggish in the match against Samsung in Daegu on the 4th, when he took the mound just before the game.
The bullpen is also in a bad situation. Veteran Noh Kyung-eun is showing off her robustness, but bullpen pitchers who led the team in the early days of the season are suffering from both large and small difficulties. As a result, the team’s dependence on batters increases, and games that fail to score many points often lead to defeat.
SSG aims to escape four consecutive losses by starting Oh Won-seok at the match against Kiwoom in Gocheok on Wednesday. It has 40 games to play including the game on the day. If the winning rate falls below 500, no team can guarantee an autumn baseball game. With the value of one win increasing, will SSG be able to overcome the crisis.