The 2023 KBO League is still early in the season, but the Hanwha Eagles are fighting almost every game. From the standpoint of a third party, Hanwha’s game is exciting, but concerns are being raised that Hanwha’s physical strength consumption is extreme from the beginning, as the player base, that is, the depth is not thick.
As of the 20th, Hanwha is in 9th place with a low win rate of 0.333. It is only 0.5 game difference with KIA Tigers, which is the bottom, so it could fall back to the last place at any time. One of the root causes of Hanwha’s failure to accumulate victories despite repeating close matches is the absence of a clear closer.
Coach Subero, who is in his third season in the KBO League this year, selected veteran pitcher Si-Hwan Jang as the finisher ahead of the opening. However, Jang Si-hwan appeared in 3 games and showed an extreme difficulty with 1 loss, an ERA of 13.50, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.623 without a win. He got 7 hits in 2 innings in 3 games.
Jang Si-hwan became a losing pitcher in the game against Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on the 1st, which was the opening game, and became the main character of the KBO League’s most consecutive losing streak with 19 consecutive losses. This is the reason why there is a story that it was a failure from dropping Jang Si-hwan, who had a heavy psychological burden by recording 18 consecutive losses until last year, as the finisher. Jang Si-hwan was eliminated from the first team entry on the 9th.
The finisher replacing Jang Si-hwan was left-handed fireballer Kim Bum-soo. However, while he appeared in 8 games and recorded 1 win, 1 loss and 1 hold, he did not harvest any of his saves and recorded 3 blown saves.
Kim Beom-soo’s greatest strength, the average speed of his fastball, fell 2.6 km/h from 148.4 km/h last year to 145.8 km/h this year. It is interpreted as an intention to catch the ball even by lowering the speed of the fastball. However, the average walks per 9 innings this season is 5.00, which has increased more than last year’s 4.77. He couldn’t put forward any restraints or restraints.
The match against Doosan Bears in Daejeon on the 19th was a game in which Hanwha’s back door concerns were clearly revealed. In the beginning of the 9th inning, when Hanhwa led 7-5, Kim Bum-soo, following Kang Jae-min, allowed 1 run even after taking the mound, narrowing the score to 7-6. Park Sang-won, who rushed to the mound in the face of a reversal with 2nd out, 1st and 2nd base, handled pinch hitter Kim Jae-ho as a pitcher grounder, and Hanwha managed to win 7-6.
It is expected that Park Sang-won, who recorded Hanwha’s first save this season, will be used as the finisher for the time being. However, unlike Jang Si-hwan and Kim Bum-soo, it is difficult to guarantee that Park Sang-won will consistently collect saves. Park Sang-won, who made his professional debut in 2017, had only one save until last year.
Some say that Kim Seo-hyun, who made a professional debut on the 19th and made full use of a fastball approaching 160 km/h, is suitable as a finisher. However, it is also pointed out that it is unreasonable to drop a high school graduate rookie who is playing a 19-year-old season as a finisher who always waits in the bullpen and digests full-time. Just as Moon Dong-ju, a second-year high school graduate, is being managed as a starter, rookie Kim Seo-hyun is also a promising player who needs to be managed.
Hanhwa, which was in the bottom with a win rate in the 30% range for three consecutive years until last year, must win the games that it can catch if it wants to avoid the bottom place this year. Attention is focusing on whether Hanwha can find a reliable finishing pitcher and escape from the bottom of the ten thousand years. [Related article] Chae Eun-seong, who 먹튀검증
became the ‘9 billion solver’, has the Hanwha batting line really changed ? (Written by Lee Yong-seon / Supervised by: Reporter Min Sang-hyun) Inquire about articles and support sports creators