Right-handed bullpen pitcher Park Young-hyun’s name was added to the list of “non-traveling players” on the whiteboard in the KT dugout before today’s game between KT and KIA in Suwon.
Unlike the usual starting pitchers’ names on the list, it shows the KT bench’s determination not to use Young-hyun no matter what.
Park’s season stats are 38 games, 42.1 innings, 2 wins, 2 losses, 1 save, 14 holds, and a 2.13 ERA.
Now in his second year as a professional, Park has established himself as one of the league’s premier “hard-throwing” bullpen arms, and yesterday against Jamsil LG, he allowed his first home run of the season.메이저사이트
Pitching in the seventh inning with a 7-6 lead, Park gave up a tying solo home run to Oh Ji-hwan with one out.
In the end, KT lost 8-7 after Kim Min-soo, who pitched in relief in the eighth inning, allowed one more run.
KT manager Lee Kang-cheol recalled the previous day’s game and said, “We didn’t have a pitcher to go out. I sent out Park Young-hyun to hold on. Young-hyun pitched the first inning and Kim Jae-yoon pitched the second inning, so we tried to finish the game with two men.”
However, the trusted Young-hyun changed his plan and brought up Kim Min-soo in the eighth inning, and Lee said, “It was difficult to bring in Jae-yoon because the game was tied. I had to keep him alive. We were outnumbered by the LG bullpen,” explaining that it was an inevitable choice.
Young-hyun Park then pitched two consecutive games against Jamsil LG.
Lee said that it wasn’t the ‘back-to-back’ that was the problem, but the fact that he had been throwing a lot since the opening day.
“The high fastball I threw to Oh Ji-hwan yesterday wasn’t even a high fastball, and the fact that it became a home run means that my strength has dropped,” Lee said, “I think I’ll use it again if Park Young-hyun is on the roster. It’s not good for the player, it’s bad for the team.”