Will LG Twins’ championship contractor Choi Won-tae be able to quickly turn around the bad atmosphere?
Choi Won-tae will take the mound as a starting pitcher in the away game against KT Wiz in the 2023 Professional Baseball KBO League held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 5th.토토사이트
Choi Won-tae, who was selected by the Heroes as the first round pick in the 2015 draft, is a right-handed pitcher whose strengths include a two-seam fastball and curve. Until last year, he had 60 wins, 44 losses, and an average ERA of 4.39 in 167 professional first-team games, and in the 2017-2019 season, he also achieved double-digit wins for three consecutive years.
If Choi Won-tae regains his original form, LG will gain great strength. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu
This year, LG, which is aiming for its first ‘presidential power’ in 29 years since 1994, held Choi Won-tae in its arms despite the loss of giving up Lee Joo-hyung (utility), Kim Dong-gyu (right-handed pitcher), and a first-round pick for the 2024 season in the middle of the season. It was a stepping stone to get one step closer to their goal by reinforcing the native starting lineup, which had been pointed out as a weakness.
However, Choi Won-tae wore LG’s pin-stripe uniform and showed pitching that fell slightly short of expectations. After transferring to LG, his performance was 2 wins, 2 losses, and an average ERA of 7.00 in 5 games. In particular, the 25th of last month became a nightmare day for him. He started against the Changwon NC Dinos and threw 93 balls, but collapsed in 4 innings with 15 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 11 runs, and 9 earned runs.
The 15 hits were Choi Won-tae’s record for most runs in one game (previously 12 hits, against Gocheok LG on May 7, 2019), and the 11 runs allowed were also tied for the most runs allowed by an individual in a single game (11 runs, against Jamsil LG on August 29, 2021). . As LG lost 1-14 in the game, Choi Won-tae suffered his 6th loss (8 wins) of the season, and his average ERA also soared to 4.04. What was the reason why Choi Won-tae performed so poorly?
LG coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop, who met at Changwon NC Park the next day, August 26, said, “If (Choi Won-tae) doesn’t have fastball velocity, everything falls down overall. The sharpness of breaking balls, including changeups, is also lacking. “It’s okay on days like that,” he analyzed.
At the same time, what the head coach ordered Choi Won-tae was to ‘play the ball low.’ Choi Won-tae’s pitches, such as two-seam, change-up, and slider, must all be low in the strike zone to increase their value. For this reason, Manager Yeom is even considering appointing Heo Do-hwan as Choi Won-tae’s dedicated catcher.
“For the time being, (Choi) Won-tae is going to be (Heo) Do-hwan. Anyway, I have to give (starting catcher) Dong-won (Park) a rest, but if I match up with Won-tae and Do-hwan, I can give him a rest that day. Dongwon’s stance for receiving the ball is a little high, while Dohwan’s stance is low. Wontae is good when the ball comes low. There seems to be a difference between high and low catchers.” These were director Yeom Kyung-yeop’s words.
Initially, Coach Yeom even considered going to the 2nd team to improve Choi Won-tae’s stamina, but due to frequent rain cancellations, he naturally took a break, and finally got a chance to regain his honor against KT that day.
LG also desperately needs Choi Won-tae’s strong pitching. For LG, which is currently in first place with 67 wins, 2 draws, and 43 losses, second place KT (63 wins, 2 draws, 50 losses) is the biggest threat. The gap is still relatively wide at 5.5 games, but you must not let down your guard. If we play well on this day thanks to Choi Won-tae’s good pitching, we can get closer to not only this series but also the final goal of this season.
Meanwhile, KT puts forward right-handed foreign ace William Cuevas to counter this. Having appeared in 12 games this season, he is cruising with 8 wins, no losses, and an ERA of 2.63. However, he showed weakness against LG. He faced them twice this season, but only had an average ERA of 11.25 (8 innings, 10 runs) with no wins or losses.