“The structure is the best since 2017”

The recent rise of the KIA Tigers is unusual. KIA won the match against SSG Landers held in Incheon on the 3rd and achieved 8 consecutive wins in 751 days since August 13, 2021. As a result, KIA, which had been hovering between 5th and 6th place, succeeded in rising to 4th place 117 days after May 9, increasing its chances of advancing to the postseason.스포츠토토

As it was a period where they were on a winning streak, the indicators were bound to be good, but KIA ranked first with a team batting average of 0.337 during the eight consecutive wins, and also ranked second with a team ERA of 2.75. It can be seen that the good balance between pitching and batting was directly related to the good performance, but what shone the most during the winning streak was ‘firepower’. It felt like even a losing game could be turned around at any time.

The team atmosphere is at its peak as they are on an 8-game winning streak. In particular, there are no worries about batting as the batting line is exploding throughout the second half of the season. The bullpen is also solid. The only stumbling block is the starting staff. Currently, KIA has Mario Sanchez out of the lineup due to injury, and Lee Ui-ri, who recently returned from an injury, left a somewhat disappointing result in his previous appearance.

Before the game was canceled due to rain on the 5th, coach Kim Jong-guk said, “The team atmosphere is good overall. It is also encouraging that there are no injured players except Mario Sanchez. However, I am a little worried about the selection due to Mario’s absence. (Lee) Ui-ri He joined last Sunday, but he needs to improve his condition a little faster. I don’t think I have any concerns other than the starting pitcher,” he said with a smile.

The head coach continued, “The players now have a lot of faith that they can win. The pitchers also have the belief that ‘If I just add a little bit, the batters can turn it around,’ and the batters also have the belief that ‘If the pitcher doesn’t give up runs, we can win.’ “I think there is a mindset of ‘I have it,’” he said, adding, “I think (the batting lineup) gained some momentum and gained confidence by beating Peddy, the best pitcher in the country.”

Even if it is not a winning streak, KIA’s bat is very hot this season. KIA is recording a team batting average of 0.274 as of the game on the 5th, which ranks second among 10 clubs. Of course, KIA’s bat was not hot throughout the season. Rather, there were a lot of concerns at the beginning of the season because the batting lineup was not strong, but Na Seong-beom and Kim Do-young, who had been out due to injuries, returned, and Park Chan-ho and Kim Sun-bin wielded their bats, resulting in a huge explosion in batting skills in the second half of the season, hitting 0.306.

When the 2017 Korean Series championship trophy was lifted, KIA’s team batting average was 0.302, ranking first among 10 teams. In 2017, the era of ‘batting pitchers’, there were as many as 33 players with a batting average of over .300. In KIA, Kim Sun-bin won the title of ‘batting king’ with a batting average of 0.370, followed by Choi Hyeong-woo (0.342) and Lee Myung-ki (currently NC, 0.332). , Roger Bernardina (0.320), Ahn Chi-hong (currently Lotte, 0.316), and Kim Joo-chan (0.309), there were quite a few players with six players who recorded over .300.

Of course, it’s definitely different from Ride2Zer’s 2017 and now, but how does it compare to recent trends? The head coach said, “The batting lineup was incomparably better then. In 2017, the team’s batting average was .300. But now, young players have become the addition. It can’t be compared to then, but the team has improved since 2017, with a more structured team.” “I think it’s the best,” he explained.

In order for the good performance of the team’s batting lineup and pitchers to shine, it is essential to support the team’s performance. If you can’t get a ticket to advance to the postseason, everything will be meaningless no matter how good the indicators are throughout the regular season. Coach Kim Jong-guk is also aware of this, so his intention is to accumulate as many wins as possible before the players participating in the Asian Games are called up.

Although the game on the 5th was canceled due to rain, coach Kim Jong-guk, who had to play 7 games including this week’s double header, said, “I think we need to win 4 games in 7 games to move up a little. But what is important now is not the rankings. The gap between the middle and the top is currently large. No. Until the Asian Games, we need to accumulate as many wins as possible in the games we can win,” he emphasized.

Realistically, KIA could also aim to jump to third place depending on the situation. However, director Kim Jong-guk is not looking into the distant future. He said, “There is still a month left until the rankings are determined. Except for Kiwoom, the remaining teams have about 20 to 30 games left, and no one will know the rankings until the Asian Games are over. The outline will not be revealed until early October. “It’s the same,” he said, expressing his intention to do his best in every game.