Kim Taek-yeon (19, Doosan Bears) is the top candidate for the 2024 professional baseball rookie award. On the 22nd, Kim set a tie for the most saves (16 goals) by a high school graduate in the match against the Samsung Lions in Pohang. Analysts say that he has started to secure the Rookie of the Year award with full trust from Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop. In the midst of this, “second-hand rookie” Cho Byung-hyun (22, SSG Landers) is one of the few rivals of Kim Taek-yeon.먹튀검증
As of Tuesday, Cho posted four wins, six losses and 11 holds, four saves, and an earned run average of 4.42. He is a must-winner of all seasons between mid-off pitching and closing pitcher. Since early August, he has served as a double stopper with Noh Kyung-eun. If saves are Kim’s weapon, Cho will hold. He pitched 59 innings, the most for a rookie this year, and jumped into the rookie of the year race with the most holds for a rookie of the year.
Cho’s specialty is the combination of a heavy four-seam fastball and a large forkball. His height (1m82 centimeters) is slightly shorter than the KBO league average (1m82.2 centimeters), and the release point at which the ball is placed from the hands is quite high compared to his height. As such, he has a large pitching angle, which makes it difficult to target. He has 11.75 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking first among 21 bullpen pitchers who pitched at least 50 innings. Coincidentally, Kim Taek-yeon (11.09), ranking second.
Cho also left a meaningful mark. He had strikeouts for 10 consecutive batters from the game against the KT Wiz in Incheon on June 26 to the game against the Doosan Bears on June 30. His strikeouts for 10 consecutive batters in the KBO League were the second in history and the first in the history of bullpen pitchers after Lee Dae-jin (then Haitai Tigers) achieved at the match against the Hyundai Unicorns in Incheon on May 14, 1998.
In July when he played mid-season games, his earned run average (ERA) worsened due to increased number of runs scored by runners who failed to deal with him. One of the reasons he lost in objective comparison with Kim is the ERA in the four-point range. However, he has gradually lowered his earned run average (nine strikeouts and one run in five and one third innings). He is also close to Kim in terms of his batting average and WHIP per person.
SSG manager Lee Sung-yong’s faith in Cho Byung-hyun is strong. Manager Lee Sung-yong put up Cho Byung-hyun in the ninth inning with a 5-1 lead over the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 21st. It was not a save situation, but there was a reason to put him on the mound. Manager Lee said, “[The team] was in a four-game losing streak. I thought it was right for the strongest player to go out and stop him at the end.” Although the pitching burden is increasing due to frequent calls, Cho Byung-hyun pitches silently on the mound.