“If it wasn’t for Hyung-woo Choi, really… ”
There was a dramatic gear shift in the process of KIA winning 6 consecutive wins at the end of the first half. Director Shim Jae-hak clearly showed an impact. The atmosphere has definitely changed with the re-signing of Thomas Panoni and the signing of Mario Sanchez. In fact, in the first real battle, the two clearly appealed to their strengths and personalities, making them look forward to the second half.
Here, Kim Tae-goon effect reached the peak. The trade has only been a week, but the KIA before and after Kim Tae-gun joined is completely different. On the ground, it is evaluated that the team chemistry has been strengthened with a pitcher’s customized lead, a good hitting, and a unique affinity off the ground.
However, before the last game of the first half against Samsung on the 13th, KIA coach Kim Jong-guk picked Choi Hyung-woo (40) and Lim Ki-young (30) when asked to pick MVPs for the first half of the pitching game. In fact, if Hyung-Woo Choi and Gi-Young Lim failed to support the team’s pitching in the first half, the prevailing evaluation would have been that the team would have fallen into abyss without the front team even finding the timing to drive.
KIA also experienced severe ups and downs in April and May. With Choi Won-joon, Kim Do-young, and Na Seong-beom missing, the batting line depended on Choi Hyeong-woo and Lee Woo-seong, and the mound was a gathering of minor worries and problems, resulting in a flow in which subordinates were concentrated on Yang Hyeon-jong, Lim Ki-young, and Choi Ji-min. The pillars of the team are clear, but the rebar is weak and the pattern of falling down as soon as it is worth going up has been repeated.
Then, the bullpen overload got worse due to cracks in the starting lineup, and as the downtrend of the other lines overlapped, they fell behind to 9th place and -9 win-loss margin. In the end, Choi Hyung-woo and Lim Ki-young played a big role in finishing the first half with -3. The two of them prevented a long-term losing streak with good performance and gave them a valuable one win.
Choi Hyung-woo recorded a batting average of 0.294, 11 homers, 46 RBIs, 40 points, and an OPS of 0.886 in 75 games in the first half. He had a batting average of 0.316 with 3 homers and 12 RBI in April, and a batting average of 0.324 with 2 home runs and 15 RBIs in May, and a batting average of 0.262 with 4 homers and 14 RBIs in June, slightly behind. In July, his batting average was 0.258 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs in 9 games, showing a moderate downward trend.
However, a decisive blow in April and May saved KIA from the edge of a cliff several times. As the players who returned in June and July gained strength, Choi Hyung-woo’s sluggishness was not so obvious. In the second half of the year, when juniors falter, if they cheer up again, the team as a whole can keep the average productivity. In fact, only the batting average fell slightly, but the RBI production capacity did not fall that much.안전놀이터추천
Lim Ki-young is the 2023 season of great reversal. 1 win, 1 loss, 2 saves, 7 holds, 2.65 ERA in 33 games. WHIP 0.96 and batting average 0.201. The loss in the 5th starting race against rookie Yoon Young-cheol was a blessing in disguise. Like a pitcher who has been in charge of a professional bullpen for years, he pitches with a sense of stability in close games. He has good command, and since he doesn’t have a fastball and changeup to pitch like he used to, he doesn’t get knocked out easily in numbers fights even in the bullpen.
Crucially, from the opening of the season to the end of the first half, Lim Ki-young’s detailed role continued to change. It started with a long relief. There were many cases where Lee Eui-ri, who had poor inning digestibility, went out with the concept of +1 selection. However, as the bullpen became overloaded and some of the setup men were unable to play their part, the days of throwing shorter pitches at key points increased.
Then, at some point, he became the setup man who plays the most important role together with Choi Ji-min. When Jung Hae-young left due to sluggish performance and Choi Ji-min struggled for a while, there were quite a few games where Lim Ki-young was responsible for the 8th and 9th innings. In June, the bullpen came close to collapsing, but each time it happened, he acted as a fixer.
Even though he threw short innings, he also played multiple innings countless times. With 51 innings in the season, it is the most innings in the pure bullpen league in the first half. He has no professional bullpen experience, but he managed his condition quite well. Unlike Choi Hyung-woo, there is almost no difference in monthly grades. He is the player who has been the most consistent in all pitching this season. Still, his management is a hot topic in the second half.
Manager Kim Jong-guk said, “In the first half, Hyung-woo held the center well in the other line. And the pitcher who became a support was also Ki-young. He went out really early, and he went out at the finish too. He played a lot of innings and he did a lot of dirty work in the bullpen.” As they rescued KIA from the edge of the cliff, the front was able to pull the arrow of reversal.
