“Kwak Bin’s last appearance on the mound will be on Monday (18th). My head hurts.”
Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop sighed when the Gwangju KIA Tigers game on the 16th was canceled due to rain. This is because the pitching schedule of domestic ace Kwak Bin (23) was forced to change. Doosan has scheduled Kwak Bin to appear two more times before he is called up to the national team for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. If all goes according to plan, Kwak Bin would have to pitch in the Gwangju KIA game on the 17th and the Daegu Samsung Lions game on the 22nd.메이저사이트
But the rain ruined Director Lee’s calculations. Doosan decided to send ace Raul Alcantara, who was scheduled to start on the 16th, to the game on the 17th. Since it was an important game with a chance to advance to the top 5 and win 6 games in a row, it was natural that Alcantara, who has been in better condition recently, would take the mound. As KIA announced Thomas Panoni as the starting pitcher on the 17th, Doosan also had to fight back by pulling out the card of a foreigner as the first starter.
The problem was Kwak Bin’s pitching schedule. Kwak Bin is scheduled to start the newly scheduled game against Gwangju KIA on Monday, the 18th. If he wants to pitch again on the 22nd, he will have to rest for three days, which is an unreasonable schedule even for the sake of the team’s performance. Recently, Kwak Bin has been having difficulty with his pitch control, so the number of pitches per inning is high, so little rest can be detrimental. Also, it is not possible to force a player who is about to be called up to the national team.
Doosan will play a two-game series against NC Dinos in Jamsil on the 19th and 20th. NC, ranked 3rd, is the team with the best pace in the recent KBO League, and is also an opponent that Doosan must defeat if it is to continue its fight for the top 5. Doosan has selected Jang Won-jun and Choi Seung-yong as starting pitchers for the games on the 19th and 20th. The rotation has been set until Brandon Waddell against Samsung in Daegu on the 21st, but we are in a situation where we need to find a starting pitcher to replace Kwak Bin starting on the 22nd.
Kwak Bin started 21 games this season and grew into a starting pitcher representing Doosan, recording 10 wins, 7 losses, 115⅓ innings, and an average ERA of 3.12. He achieved 10 wins for the first time in his career, and is the only Doosan domestic starting pitcher to remain in the starting rotation throughout the season. It is natural for Coach Lee to want to use Kwak Bin in as many games as possible before he is called up to the national team. However, because heaven did not help him, he was sent to the national team after only playing one game.
With additional games scheduled for Monday, Doosan must prepare for an 8-game series from the 17th to the 24th. It is not easy to prepare for an 8-game series when there is already a shortage of domestic starting pitchers. Choi Won-jun and Park Shin-ji, who are out of the lineup due to treatment for blisters, are likely to prepare as replacement starting pitchers.
Manager Lee said, “It’s a huge burden. It doesn’t look like there will be any rain for a while, so we have to think about playing 8 games. We have to think about the pitcher rotation again, and if this happens, Kwak Bin won’t be able to pitch on the 22nd, so it’s going to be a mess again. My brain is going to be messed up again.” “It hurts,” he said with a worried expression.
Doosan will have only one member, Kwak Bin, selected to the national team during the Asian Games. Among the teams competing in the top 5, the loss of power is relatively small. Still, the variable of the pitcher who was responsible for the team’s 10 wins leaving seems quite serious. Coach Lee has repeatedly thought about how to form a starting rotation in preparation for Kwak Bin’s absence.
First of all, Alcantara-Brandon-Choi Seung-yong are fixed, and replacement starting pitchers will be able to be appointed at the right time for the remaining two positions depending on the remaining game schedule.