This year is the best in the last three years? The tiger that finished "Difficult June"...Does "Summer Run" start?
Jul 01, 2024
|
|
June's move was anything but pleasant. KIA, which was speeding with 21 wins and 10 losses and a winning rate of 0.677 from March to April, slowed down with 13 wins, 1 draw and 11 losses (0.542) in May, and only 11 wins, 1 draw and 12 losses (0.478) in June. It seems that the 'June slump' that has been repeated every year has not been avoided this year.
However, there is a reversal in this record. Looking back on the results of the past three years, KIA's performance in June this season was not bad.
With Na Sung-bum and Yang Hyun-jong joining the team, KIA was designated as a team to aim for autumn baseball, and its performance in June was 10 wins, 1 draw and 13 losses, with a winning rate of 0.435.
It rose to the top at one point with a scary rise of 18 wins and 8 losses and a winning rate of 0.692 for the month of May, but a sharp break was taken in June. He faltered in the two-stroke and couldn't get up. In the end, he finished fifth.
|
|
In June, he only garnered seven wins (one draw and 15 losses) in 23 games. The winning rate was only 0.318.
The team's batting average (23.39 percent) and average earned run average (5.20) in June were both the lowest among the 10 teams. It was a time when we were worried about a fall in the bottom, let alone entering autumn baseball. However, Kia has re-entered the semifinal race with a rebound of 24 wins (one draw and 13 losses) in 38 games between July and August.
However, the slump in June finally hampered him. He was on a roll in the summer game, but eventually failed to advance to the fall baseball league with 73 wins, 2 draws and 69 losses (0.514) behind the Doosan Bears. If he had won two more games in June, he could have beat Doosan for the top five.
Kia ranked third overall with a team batting average of 296 in June this season.
But the mound was the problem. He finished ninth with a team monthly ERA of 5.45. In April, Lee Eui-ri and Will Crowe's departure adversely affected the accumulated fatigue as they drew and used the bullpen to fill the empty starting position. To make matters worse, the result of the recent departure from the final round to Jung Hae-young has increased the burden.
The team's lineup showed better performance than May, when the monthly batting average was 288, but it was difficult to build wins as the mound could not hold out in baseball, which was 'pitcher play'.
|
|
Lee Woo-sung left the lineup following Na Sung-bum and Kim Sun-bin, who emerged from the lineup.
The mound still looks tired. It was rather nice to have 'forced opening closure' due to rain for two days from the 29th to the 30th.
The worst is defense. As of the 1st, he has committed 84 errors during 80 games, making him the No. 1 team with the most errors. The only team with more than one mistake per game. He is also ranked 10th with a defense ratio of 0.972. In the past, there has never been a team with weak defense that has achieved the long-awaited goal. It is an urgent task to be solved.
KIA will end its first half schedule with three consecutive games during the week against the Daegu Samsung Lions on the 2nd and 4th.
The only hope is a summer match.
The tiger became stronger when it got hot. Marking a 50% winning rate in July of the 2022 season, he laid the foundation for autumn baseball, and last year, he immediately raised the atmosphere by driving the wind, including nine consecutive wins at the beginning of the second half.
Expectations for a rebound in the summer are bound to grow like a fluke this season, as they have been in the lead since the opening by accumulating wins at every crisis.
|
|
ppark@sportschosun.com
