Ahead of this season, kt Wiz did not renew the contract with Audrey Samer Despine (36), who had been with them for three years from the 2020 season.
Over the past three years, Despine has gone beyond a team and established itself as an inning eater representing the KBO League. In 2020, his first year in the league, he appeared in 35 games and threw 207⅔ innings, showing the league’s best innings extinguishing ability. The following year, he recorded the most innings pitched in the league with 188⅔ in 33 games.
Last year, Despine was a bit sluggish. He appeared in 30 games and his 163 innings was 15th in the league. He failed to show the ability to digest the innings he had shown before, and he often came down the mound early. However, he consistently appeared in more than 30 games for 3 years and was responsible for more than 160 innings, making a significant contribution to the team’s starting team’s most innings in the league (2436 innings).
Where Despine left, kt foreign pitchers must fill the gap as new inning eaters. The team is also expecting a lot from Wes Benjamin (30), who newly joined the team in the middle of last season, and a new foreign pitcher, Bo Schulser (29).
Benjamin has proven himself to some extent. After joining the team in June of last year, he drew attention by showing off his outstanding pitching ability. He went 5-4 in 17 games with a ERA of 2.70 with 77 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.02 in 96⅔ innings. His adaptation to the league ended smoothly, and the number of innings gradually increased. With his stable pitching, he also recorded four quality start pluses (3 earned runs or less in 7 starting innings) last year.
The new pitcher, Schulser, is not a professional starting pitcher. He made 42 starts in 133 games since his minor league debut in 2017. He has experience as a full-time starter in 2019, but has been mostly in and out of the bullpen. However, he is increasing his innings little by little as the years go by. During his minor league days, he held several positions throughout the season. In the KBO League, if only a starting pitcher is professionally assigned, he can expect a sense of stability and the ability to digest innings.
On the 3rd (Korean time), Benjamin and Schulser went to the bullpen pitching for the first time in the spring camp and began to harden in earnest. Benjamin recorded a maximum speed of 143 km/h with 25 pitches. After checking all types of pitches, including fastball and changeup, Schulser threw 34 pitches and finished his first bullpen pitch with a maximum speed of 144km.
KT pitching coach Kim Tae-han, who watched this, said, “It was their first pitching, but I felt that they were preparing well as planned. Since it is a camp held in the United States, I hope both players will prepare for the season with a comfortable mindset according to the training program.” expressed their expectations for 메이저사이트
