The 2024 season of the KBO League will start its remaining games after three consecutive games this week. There is only about a month left until the end of the 720-game trip. Fans naturally pay attention to the main title race. Amid fierce battles in various battlegrounds, competition to become the “relief king” symbolizing the best closing pitcher is heating up. Coincidentally, Kia and Samsung, which rank first and second in the league, will have a fierce battle of pride, as will Jung Hae-young and Oh Seung-hwan.
Oh Seung-hwan, who plays his 14th season in the KBO League alone, is a veteran born in 1982. He cannot be free from the “aging curve” issue. This is why he was recently given 10 days to reorganize. He has never left the first team since the opening, but was first canceled from the entry on the 16th.
Due to his poor performance, he had 24 saves through June, but his record was shaky with one win and three losses and an earned run average of 12.10 (13 earned runs in nine ⅔ innings) in the 13 games he played in July. He added three saves during the period, but he also had three blon saves. The on-base allowed rate (WHIP) was a serious level at 2.38.먹튀검증
He made a bold decision and announced his return to the first team on Wednesday. Now is the time to renew his commitment to regain his self-esteem. He is the best closing pitcher of the Korean pro baseball league with 549 saves in his career in Korea, the U.S., and Japan. Oh is the only one who can challenge to become the seventh relief pitcher at the age of 40.
There are variables. It is because of the reality that he cannot take the final position immediately. During his hiatus, Kim Jae-yoon was definitely responsible for the back door. For now, he should start as a setup man and set his first goal to recover his ball power and confidence. This means that he can look at the title of the Redemption King only when he proves that he has changed. It is time for a “straightforward” to put his pride on the line.
Jung Hae-young, the “professional closure” that the Tigers have eagerly awaited, is challenging. With 116 saves in total, he is second only to Sun Dong-yeol (132 saves) in the franchise save list. Sun was an all-weather pitcher who started and finished the game. Jung is trying to make a new history early on, blocking Kia from entering its second year at the age of 20.
Since the 2021 season, the first year of the season, he has become the youngest to make 30 saves in history and the Tigers’ most saves in a single season (Im Chang-yong in 1998). He also became the youngest to make 32 saves in the 2022 season, setting a new record of 30 saves for two consecutive years. He quickly accumulated saves in line with his team’s strength, and this year, he was the youngest (22 years, 8 months and 1 day) to make 100 saves overall, which gave him a fresh start.
He had a crisis. He completely lost the rest of the first half and July due to shoulder inflammation in late June. He stopped playing 21 saves in the first half for a while.
After rehabilitation, he started anew this month. He has accumulated five saves in the last seven games. He has only one gap versus Oh Seung-hwan (27) as of Tuesday. He is aiming at turning the tables in a race for the king of relief.
He has ample motivation. He only ranked third in saves in both 2021 and 2022. He is dreaming of a different outcome this year. They are Kia’s fans hoping to have the first save king in 26 years since Lim Chang-yong in 1998.