SSG is having a rough end to the season. They were supposed to be in a ‘tie for second’ with LG, but they’re down to 6th place. They should be fighting for fifth place, not the title. Instead, the season isn’t over yet, but something is shaky, and it’s out there.
SSG has played 123 games through 17 days, with 62 wins, 2 draws and 59 losses, a winning percentage of 0.512. They’ve dropped to sixth place. They’re on a five-game losing streak. They have one win, one draw, and eight losses in their last 10 games.
It’s a mess. First of all, the mound is in trouble. It’s a constant struggle. When the starters pitch well, the bullpen falters. On the flip side, the bullpen struggles as well.
The bats are also struggling. During the five-game losing streak, the team averaged 2.8 runs per game. The team is batting .219 with a team ERA of 6.70 during the five losses. They can’t win.
The most disappointing aspect of the entire season was on the mound. The starting staff is dead last with a 4.65 ERA. Kirk McCarty has a 3.45 ERA and Loenis Elias has a 3.48 ERA. The foreign one-two punch is decent.
The Korean pitching staff leaves a lot to be desired. Kim Kwang-hyun is doing his part with a 3.90 ERA, but Moon Seung-won (7.99), Park Jong-hoon (5.61), and Oh Won-seok (5.59) have not lived up to expectations.
In the bullpen, it’s safe to say that only Noh Kyung-eun, Go Hyo-joon, and Seo Jin-yong have been seen all season. Noh and Ko appeared in 64 games each, while Seo appeared in 58 games. They seem to have lost steam at the end of the season. In September, Seo’s ERA was 8.44 and Ko’s was 7.71.
It’s not like the team doesn’t have other options, including Lee Kun-wook, Choi Min-joon, Baek Seung-geon, Lim Jun-seop, Song Young-jin, and Lee Irene. There is a sense of unevenness. Choi Min-jun was a licorice until mid-season, but he has faded recently. It’s nice to see Lee “step up” at the end.
It has happened before. In any case, the current players have stepped up to the plate, which is why they’ve been able to consistently finish in the top half of the table. Their coach is Kim Won-hyung.
However, when we keep losing, there are ‘words’ here and there. There are ‘typical’ things that happen when things don’t work. First of all, the argument that the current players can’t do it, so someone from Futures should be brought up.
‘This is not good enough’. This could be a fan wanting their team to win, or it could be a front office or parent organization wanting them to win. However, it’s hard to imagine how easy it would be for the Futures to move up and utilize someone if they were one win away from the end of the season.
There is also a lot of talk about the coach. There seems to be quite a few people who think, “If we don’t change, we’ll be in trouble. In fact, there are stories of this and that.
In this situation, owner Jung Yong-jin made a strange move. On his social media, an SSG fan wrote a comment saying, “We need to replace Kim Won-hyung as soon as possible to have a future. “You’re not the only one who knows, just wait,” Jung replied.
Nothing concrete, but the nuances are there. It seems like the owner is not happy with the current situation. He may have been hinting at a change. However, it’s not clear that it was necessary to do so publicly.
Jung Yong-jin is affectionately known as “Yong Jin-hyung”. He cares a lot about the team, and his support has been overwhelming. In terms of investment, it’s probably one of the best ever. He also has the absolute support of the fans.
However, the owner’s “on-field intervention” is a different story. We all know what happens when an owner interferes too much on the field. Some teams haven’t won a championship in decades. Loving baseball and running a business should always be separate. Mixing them up will only have a negative effect.
Baseball managers live like flies. They often take off their clothes even if they still have a contract. Kim Won-hyung may not have the same freedom.메이저놀이터
However, he led the team to the wire-to-wire championship just a year ago. He even signed a three-year contract. He is in the first year of his contract. The possibility of fall baseball still remains. They could win back-to-back Korean Series titles in the fall.
It’s not over yet, but it feels like it is. It’s messy, it’s unstable. It doesn’t help the team on the field.