“Good throw.”
Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung spoke about closing pitcher Kim Won-joong ahead of the first game of the three consecutive games during the week against the Doosan Bears of the “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League,” which was scheduled to be held at Jamsil Stadium on the 13th (cancellation of rain).
Kim Won-joong took the mound in relief at the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, with Lotte leading 9-6 against Suwon KT Wiz on the 11th, the last game. He played one hit, two strikeouts, and one walk in one ⅓ of the final score, keeping his team’s 9-7 victory.
It was a difficult start. He hit a timely RBI single by Kim Sang-soo, the first batter, and the run scored by the successor made it 9-7. After that, he gave up a walk to Kim Min-hyuk and loaded the bases with two outs. The batter’s box was set up for a tricky batter, but Kim Won-joong blocked it well to prevent the fire from spreading. He did not lose a point by inducing a fly ball to the right field.
The bottom of the ninth inning was perfect. After dealing with leadoff hitter Park Min-seok with a ground ball, he struck out Shim Woo-joon and Mel Rojas Jr., to keep his team’s victory. In the middle of the game when Lotte was leading 9-2, it was heavily chased by KT and deployed a large number of bullpen pitchers that it can use. Following the starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (two runs in five innings), Kim Sang-soo (one run in one inning), Jin Hae-soo (two runs in the ⅔ innings), Kim Kang-hyun (one run in 0 innings), Han Hyun-hee (one run in the ⅓ innings), Koo Seung-min (one run in the ⅓ innings), Song Jae-young (in the ⅓ innings), and Kim Won-joong (in the first inning) took the mound. Kim Won-joong’s early deployment was a huge success. 메이저놀이터
“Kim Won-joong threw well. If you try to change the throwing pattern too much, you may lose balance. You have to throw according to your own pattern. It is up to the batter to hit the ball. You don’t have to think that (the batter) will aim at this,” Kim said. “He defended well against a difficult game, and defended neatly against the last game (against Suwon KT on November 11).”
“(Kim) Sang-soo is a bit stable. I liked (former) Seung-min, but he makes ridiculous walks every once in a while. That’s too bad,” he said, referring to Kim Won-joong and other bullpen pitchers.
Lotte has been on the rise lately. It has won six games in seven games held in August. “Batters are hitting well, and pitchers are blocking well. Winning is all good,” Kim said. “We have positive thoughts. The fielders have improved in general. Young players have grown a lot, in particular. I am not good at dealing with certain pitchers yet, but I am doing well with certain confidence.”
Meanwhile, a rain cancellation was announced at 6 p.m. due to heavy rain with about an hour to go before the start of the game. Both Lotte and Doosan will send their starting pitchers as they are. Kim Jin-wook will start for Lotte and Jordan Balazovic (two wins, one loss and 23 innings ERA of 2.35) will start for Doosan.