“I felt a lot of pressure.”
He recorded a quality start (QS: 6 innings or more and 3 earned or less) in 8 games. It is true that I did not live up to my expectations as a starter. He often failed to fill six innings as a starter. He also made viewers uneasy by frequent walks.
However, on the 19th, he put everything down and took the mound in the home game against Kiwoom Heroes. As a result, he had the best pitching all season with 7 innings and 1 run. It turned out that he was going through severe ‘growing pains’. National team pitcher Lee Eui-ri (21, KIA Tigers), who is only three years into his professional debut, is growing once again.
Eui-ri Lee faced a total of 27 batters while playing 7 innings against Kiwoom on the 19th, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 9. He gave up only three walks that were pointed out.
Lee Eui-ri, who met with reporters after the game, said, “I have been under a lot of pressure so far. However, as time went on, I tried to shake off his burden and start lightly. As a result, it seems that such good results came out today.”
There was a reason for the burden. “I think I just started to know baseball. As a result, I used to just pitch aggressively, but now I have a desire to compete with the batter, so the game went difficult.”
It’s the third year ‘growing pains’. Lee Eui-ri, who entered the professional league with the 1st KIA nomination in 2021, has been noticed since his debut. As a result, in his debut season, he won 4 wins (5 losses) and earned an average ERA of 3.61, and as a KIA player, he was awarded the ‘Rookie of the Year’ after 36 years.
From the year of his debut, he was also selected as a national representative. Eui-ri Lee went to the Tokyo Olympics in Japan held in July 2021. In 2022, the year after he went, he even stepped on the KBO League 10 wins. As a result, he was also selected for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team held in March this year.
However, if you threw fearlessly until the first or second year, you now have juniors and experienced many professional games and international competitions, and your eyes to see baseball have been opened. So I thought a lot. Realizing that, I am trying to put down my thoughts and burden again.
After becoming a senior, I could see the greatness of the other seniors in the team. Eui-ri Lee said, “I have a lot of ups and downs. However, Senior Choi Hyeong-woo always shows a steady sense of hitting whether we are winning big or losing. I felt great once again today.”
On the other hand, in the past 7 games, he often made bases loaded with walks, but because he struck out and allowed no runs or gave up only 1 run, a buzzword called ‘Lee Eui-ri’s bases loaded challenge’ was coined. It could be a worrying word, but Lee Eui-ri said she had confidence. “But everyone said to me, ‘But didn’t you stop it in the end?’ That gave me confidence.”카지노사이트
It’s been 3 years since I’ve been thinking a lot, but I gradually raised my confidence and pitched confidently and aggressively like Lee Eui-ri of the past. The result was a good pitch with 7 innings and 1 run, which resulted in 3 wins of the season on the 19th.
There is also the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China in September. Eui-ri Lee, who is 21 years old, is not subject to the age limit and can participate. He is also a strong candidate for selection.
However, Lee Eui-ri shook his head and said, “I can’t go if I throw it like this.” He said, “I want to focus only on the mound next week. I think thinking about next week’s game will help me to fight better than thinking about the game in September.”
A 21-year-old national pitcher secretly suffered from growing pains for the third year. However, with the encouragement of those around me, I am gradually overcoming it. Lee Eui-ri’s season is still long, with 3 wins (3 losses) and an ERA of 2.58. et16@sportsseoul.com