The bullpen session of each KBO League club has been reeling from the spring. Pitchers are not able to hold on to their home runs as the number of home runs is pouring out. So far, the 10 KBO clubs have hit 240 home runs in a total of 124 games so far on Tuesday. The number of home runs per game is 1.94. At this time last year, each club had 145 home runs in 125 games. The number of home runs per game is 1.16 per game. The number of home runs has increased by nearly 70 percent this season compared to last year.노래방알바
There are various interpretations on the increase in home runs. First of all, it is the repulsion of official ball. According to the results of the first occasional inspection announced by the KBO on April 22, the average repulsion coefficient of official ball reached 0.4208, slightly higher than that of last year’s 0.4175. There is also talk of the automatic pitching judgment system. Batters are benefitting from the consistent strike zone. Pitchers’ increase in the proportion of courses in line with the ABS zone may also have had an impact. High ball makes a mistake to hit a home run even if the ball is not properly controlled. There is also a possibility that the opening of the season slightly earlier than usual affected pitchers’ conditions in the early days of the season.
Each team’s bullpen has a 4.91 ERA over 960.2 innings in a total of 125 games. During the same period last year, he had a 4.08 ERA over 924 innings.
The 10th-ranked KT bullpen is having a particularly tough early days of the season. He pitched a total of 103 innings over 26 games, with an earned run average of 7.75. Compared to Lotte and Kiwoom (5.29 each), the two most competitive after the latter, the Korean pro baseball has a big gap.
KIA, which is ranking first in two games as of the day, also has the most solid bullpen capability. It has the lowest ERA of 4.07 for relief pitchers. Lim Ki-young, who played the most innings in the bullpen last season, left the team due to injury, but he has no significant impact. Among the 10 teams, the biggest drop was made.
The changes in LG and Samsung are notable compared to last season. Samsung, which had suffered a lot due to poor backdoor policy, has changed dramatically in quality and quantity of its bullpen this year. The number of innings pitched in the bullpen as of Tuesday was 112.1 innings, the most in the league, and the third place in the league with a 4.33 ERA. Choi Ha-neul, who settled down as a relief pitcher this season, is also playing hard. In relief alone, he pitched 11 times and allowed only three runs in 15.2 innings.
The “defending champion” LG has been affected by a large number of its key bullpen resources that have been sidelined. As of the 26 games played this season, LG bullpen pitchers have played 96.2 innings, down 15.1 innings from 112 innings last year.