KIA was considered a favorite even before the season. According to the prospect of each team’s power analysis team based on the available resources of the first team, the prevailing view was that the team would compete with LG, the defending champion. However, even one of the candidates was not evaluated overwhelmingly as the sole leader.안전놀이터
Moreover, there were variables in which the manager changed due to unexpected situations at the beginning of the spring camp, and starting pitchers other than veteran left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong were absent for an extended period of time due to injury after the opening of the spring camp. Considering this background, Kia had a race that far exceeded universal calculation.
The KIA Tigers have won the Korean Series 11 times. They are accustomed to the high air. However, it was rare that the Tigers managed to win the regular season title more leisurely than this year.
KIA was two games ahead of second-place Doosan in the 2017 regular season, when it won the most recently, and there was no game difference with second-place SK in the regular season in 2009, when it won the previous championship. Going back further, in 1993, the year of Lee Jong-beom’s debut in “Son of the Wind,” he beat second-place Samsung by seven games and won the Korean Series with a solo performance similar to his winning history.
KIA confirmed its regular season title this year on the 17th. With seven more games to go, Kia recorded a winning percentage of 0.615 to show an eight-game gap with second-ranked Samsung.
For Kia, it can be interpreted that the team overwhelmed other teams with a much higher level of performance than expected before the season. Considering that starting pitchers raced this fast amid tightrope injuries, it can be analyzed that the team made an additional contribution from the sum of WAR among major players that it had before the season.
KBSN Sports commentator Ryu Ji-hyun brought up the names of three people in this section.
The first priority is Lee Bum-ho, Kia’s manager. Ryu viewed Kia’s appointment of Lee Bum-ho during the spring camp as its “best choice.” “We were not looking for a manager at a time when we were preparing since November last year. It was only a few days before the opening of the spring camp. Ideally, a manager who knew the Tigers well and worked with the players would be appointed, but Lee Bum-ho, who was a key staff member, enabled the team to finish the season without any confusion.” Analysts say that this was the reason why he was able to enter the season without wavering his previous performance.
Ryu immediately named Kim Do-young, the most promising candidate for this season’s MVP. “I thought Kim Do-young’s potential would burst soon, but I didn’t know the time would come so soon. It was hard to predict that he would achieve this high in his third year,” he said.
In fact, Kim has displayed a definite “plus effect” in Kia’s performance this season. As of Wednesday, he ranks first in the entire season with 8.31 units in WAR (based on Statistics). Considering that the previous WAR was 3.88, Kia was able to significantly increase its actual number of wins compared to the expected number of wins.
Ryu added the contribution of veteran Choi Hyung-woo, who was born in 1983. “I thought it was time for Choi to drop a little bit last year. However, if you look at this season, there were a lot of cases where he hit something crucial when he hit something that could be in the highlights of each game,” he said. “I think there are reasons why he has to be strong in chances, including his strong strategy to play breaking balls.”
Choi posted a batting average of 0.326 in scoring capacity and an OPS of 0.963 in scoring capacity this year, displaying stellar performance at opportunities. Choi played only 115 games due to a side injury in the second half of the year, but has posted 108 RBIs (tied for fifth place). Choi has posted an offensive WAR of 3.31 this season.
In addition to them, veteran ace Yang Hyeon-jong raised the WAR from 3.54 last year to 4.96 this season, and right-hander Hwang Dong-ha, who appeared as a substitute starter and kept the rotation, became a new force with the WAR 1.95. In addition, the presence of foreign ace James Nail, who shot 4.82 in the WAR, Choi Won-joon of the WAR 2.30, and Han Jun-su of the WAR 1.93 were also “plus effects” in KIA’s power.