The atmosphere at the final game of the weekend series between Doosan Bears and LG Twins, which took place on April 16 at Jamsil Stadium, was hot. It was a day when players from both teams faced off with the pride of Seoul along with the ‘SEOUL’ uniform engraved on their chests.
First of all, LG, who easily won 2 wins in the series, had a more relaxed atmosphere. Conversely, Doosan, which suffered two unexpected defeats in a relatively advantageous starting matchup with Raul Alcantara and Gwak Bin, had to defend Seoul’s pride by winning Sunday’s game.
If Doosan gave up even the last game, they could have completely lost their pride by losing the series from the first confrontation in the Jamsil rivalry. Starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong, who came to the starting mound on the 16th, needed a good pitch.
On this day, Choi Seung-yong digested his share with 2 hits (1 home run), 3 strikeouts, 2 walks and 2 runs in 5 innings. Choi Seung-yong, who threw a total of 72 pitches, went down the mound at an early point due to the Doosan bench’s decision to put Pilseungjoo early. Although the team was in danger of losing due to the silence of the team until the middle of the game, Doosan managed to escape from 3 consecutive losses with a 10-5 come-from-behind victory, showing amazing cohesion from the 7th inning.
Although he failed to achieve his first win of the season, it was a meaningful scene for Choi Seung-yong to get back on track after his first sluggish start of the season (1.2 innings, 10 hits, 8 runs against Jamsil NC Dinos on April 5).
Choi Seung-yong displayed impressive pitches on the starting mound in the beginning and end of the second week of April. Choi Seung-yong contributed to the team’s 6-4 victory with 6 hits, 4 strikeouts and 3 runs in 5.2 innings in the starting game against Kiwoom Heroes in Jamsil on April 11. It was Choi Seung-yong who showed a pitch that did not shake much even in the situation where it could have been burdensome to start twice a week and be on the verge of sweeping defeat.
From the perspective of the Doosan bench, which has to fill the gap in foreign pitcher Dylan’s file during April, it is ideal for Choi Seung-yong to help maintain the left-right balance of the starting lineup while protecting the starting position. Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop was also right in giving Choi Seung-yong opportunities to make up for himself despite his sluggish first appearance of the season.
The reason Choi Seung-yong, who was also Doosan’s key player in the second week of April, immediately changed thanks to a subtle pitching posture correction. Looking at his kicking and striding process, in his first appearance, he stretched out his right foot without stopping, but from the second appearance, it shows a motion that stops once during the stride process.
Choi Seung-yong is known to have changed his pitching motion with the intention of gathering all his strength and throwing the ball. Thanks to this, control was stabilized and it had a positive effect on the command of the breaking ball. In his first appearance, he had a hard time with his changeup far out of the strike zone, but from the second appearance, the fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup zero all did not deviate too far from the strike zone.
This was the real aspect of the ‘5th starter Choi Seung-yong’ that coach Lee Seung-yeop expected from the spring camp. Since the overall command and game management are on the right track, Choi Seung-yong now has to solve the task of showing competitiveness in the number of pitches over 80.
# Last week’s decisive DOO scene On
April 16th, Jamsil Stadium, Yang Seok-hwan, who entered the plate in the top of the 7th inning, threw a bat at Doosan dugout on third base. He was a scene that predicted that he would be the ‘biggest word’ in the upcoming winter FA market. Had it not been for Yang Seok-hwan’s tie-breaking three-run, Doosan’s defeat would have been deepening. If they had lost that day, they could have completely lost their pride with the sweeping defeat against their rivals in Jamsil for the first time this season, and at the same time, they could have fallen into a quagmire of 4 consecutive losses.
Yang Seok-hwan has been properly hit with ‘FA Lloyd’ since the beginning of this season. Yang Seok-hwan is wielding a batting average of 0.349 / 15 hits / 4 home runs / 11 RBIs for the season. In particular, it was Yang Seok-hwan who took the sole lead (4 home runs) in the league home run division with a dramatic tie on the 16th. Recently, Yang Seok-hwan was placed in the 3rd batting order, and he is enjoying the umbrella effect of being placed in front of 4th hitter Kim Jae-hwan and 5th hitter Yang Eui-ji. A match against Yang Seok-hwan, which is difficult to avoid, can put more pressure on opposing pitchers.
#Last week’s Futures DOO pick
The Doosan Futures team failed to play all of the away series against Ganghwa SSG Landers during the week of the second week of April. This was because of the fine dust air raids that covered the metropolitan area on Wednesday and Thursday following the cancellation of rainy weather on Tuesday. Doosan Futures, who won 7-5 against Icheon Goyang Heroes on April 14, played a double header on the 16th due to rain on the 15th. Doosan, which swept all double header games (4-3, 3-0), took the lead in the Northern League alone with 4 wins and 2 losses in the Futures League this season.
Among the players of the Future Team who played last week, the player to pay attention to the most was veteran pitcher Kim Kang-ryul. Kim Kang-ryul, who had been in poor physical condition since the beginning of the spring camp, delayed preparation for the season. Kim Kang-ryul, who made his first actual pitching (1 inning, 1 hit, 1 strikeout, 1 walk, 2 runs) against Goyang on April 14, became the winning pitcher with 1 hit (1 home run), 1 walk and 1 run in 2 innings against Goyang on the 16th.
Doosan’s urgent task at the beginning of the season is the supply of bullpen resources that can be entrusted with one inning. The answer could be the return of Kim Kang-ryul, who served as closer before current closer Hong Kun-hee. Besides, Kim Kang-ryul can obtain the first FA qualification in his life after his all-season. As it is an important season for both the team and the individual, it is expected that great attention will be paid to the time of Kim Kang-ryul’s return.
#Rebound this week DOOoh
3rd week of April Doosan game schedule
April 18-20 Daejeon Doosan-Hanwha match (away), 21-23 Jamsil KT-Doosan match (home
) Get out and play an away game (Daejeon away). Afterwards, in the weekend series, KT, who currently ranks 2nd in team batting average (0.291) and 2nd in team OPS (0.766), brings home KT, who has a good sense of team hitting. In the end, after raising the team’s sense of hitting in the weekday away series, it is necessary to prepare for a firefight with KT.
In order to reduce the ups and downs of the team’s hitting, the rebound of Jose Rojas, a foreign hitter, is desperately needed. Rojas is suffering from a severe batting slump with a batting average of 0.158 / 6 hits / 2 homers / 7 RBIs in 12 games at the beginning of the season. It is also true that he cannot make a big impact after the league opening game-ending home run. I expected the performance of the top batting line, but at some point, Rojas went down to the 6th batting order. In the game on the 16th, he did not even play in the game because he was excluded from the start.
The issue of Lohas’ defensive position is also expected to be a concern in the future. Considering Kim Dae-han and Kim In-tae, who will return from injury in the future along with Song Seung-hwan, who has recently improved his hitting sense, the position of Lohas, who has a question mark in the outfield defense, may become more ambiguous.
Of course,안전놀이터 before the defense problem, it is first to show clear results and competitiveness in hitting. During the spring camp, his physical condition improved somewhat slowly, so it may be that Lohas needs more time to adapt. Let’s pay attention to whether Lohas can show his true value from the weekday Daejeon expedition series outside of Jamsil.