In the 2022 KBO League, KIA, who advanced to the wild card match by finishing 5th in the regular season, weakened in the Stove League. Homemaker Park Dong-won, who KIA recruited through trade in April of last year, obtained FA qualification and transferred to the LG Twins for a total of 6.5 billion won over four years. The KIA has not been able to significantly strengthen its strength to offset the departure of offensive catcher Park Dong-won, who hit 18 homers last year. The weakening of the battering line became unavoidable. 메이저사이트
KIA should offset the weakened lineup with the power of the mound. Recruiting Kim Dae-yu, a left-handed bullpen agent who recorded 13 holds last year as a reward player for Park Dong-won, is interpreted as KIA’s intention to strengthen the mound. Kim Dae-yu played a role as a left-handed hitter specialist in the LG bullpen, the strongest in the league.
However, KIA has a factor of anxiety in the bullpen as well. From 2021, it is expected that it will be difficult for right-handed bullpen setup man Jang Hyun-sik, who harvested 53 holds for two years, to operate in time for the opening game. Jang Hyun-shik underwent surgery to remove bone fragments in his elbow at the end of October after the season ended last year.
Bone fragment removal surgery is relatively less burdensome than elbow ligament splice surgery. However, it is true that he needs to undergo rehabilitation as well as care after his return. Some pitchers take a considerable amount of time to recover their pitch even after surgery to remove bone fragments in the elbow.
Jang Hyun-shik’s bone fragment removal surgery is dominated by the aftermath of overwork. In 2021, Jang Hyun-sik went 1 win, 5 losses, 1 save and 34 holds to claim the King of Holds, his first individual title since his 2013 pro debut. Jang Hyun-sik, who was traded from NC Dinos to KIA in August 2020, received favorable reviews for establishing himself as a ‘successful trade case’.
However, he was overworked by pitching in 69 games, ranking second in the most appearances and pitching 76.2 innings, ranking first in the most innings among pitchers specializing in the bullpen. In 2022, voices of concern about whether Jang Hyun-sik will maintain the strength of the previous year’s ‘Hold King’ grew.
Last year, Jang Hyun-sik recorded 2 wins, 3 losses, 1 save and 19 holds, falling short of 20 holds. He was in such poor shape that he was excluded from the first team for a whopping 53 days, including being listed on the injured list three times.
Even in detailed indicators, Jang Hyun-sik’s sluggishness was revealed without hesitation. His ERA improved slightly from 3.29 in 2021 to 3.12 in 2022. However, OPS, which combines on-base percentage and slugging percentage, deteriorated from 0.648 in 2021 to 0.748 in 2022. In 2021, the average strikeout per 9 innings was overwhelming at 9.39, but in 2022 it fell significantly to 6.92.
Jang Hyun-sik’s average fastball speed was 147.9 km/h in 2021, but last year it fell 1.3 km/h to 146.6 km/h. His frequent injuries, decrease in fastball restraint, and decline in detailed indicators are analyzed in the aftermath of overwork in 2021. If Jang Hyun-sik proved his persistence by showing individual results like in 2021, KIA’s final ranking could have been different.
KIA, where Park Dong-won, the main catcher, left, is receiving somewhat pessimistic forecasts from experts that it will not be easy to advance to fall baseball for the second consecutive year. Attention is focusing on whether Jang Hyun-sik will return to a healthy body and recover the same skills as in 2021, taking the lead in cracking down on KIA’s back door and taking the lead in fall baseball for the second consecutive year