‘2nd → 9th’ mound shaken KT, eventually to the bottom

KT Wiz eventually fell to the bottom.

KT started the season amidst a crisis as key players left due to consecutive injuries even before the opening. It seemed to hold on with ‘gum baseball’, but injuries continued to occur, and even this became difficult.

From the match against SSG Landers on the 20th of last month to the match against Samsung Lions on the 30th, it ended with 1 draw and 9 losses in 10 games, and it fell into 9 consecutive losses in 7 years since 2016.

In the end, KT, which accumulated more defeats than victories, lost 2-6 to Hanwha on the 7th, dropping from 9th to the bottom (8 wins, 2 draws, 17 losses).

The most regrettable part of the precarious KT is, of course, the injury. It is not easy to fill the void left by injuries for both pitchers and batters.

Joon Sohn, who left after the first appearance of the season due to a sprained forearm muscle, returned only at the beginning of this month, and Minsu Kim and Ju Kwon, who did not even make it to the opening entry, have not yet joined the first team. Hwang Jae-gyun was also expelled from the first team due to a toe fracture a week after returning from injury.

In the meantime, the solid mound, which was KT’s strength, was completely shaken.

At the time of KT’s first integrated championship in 2021, it tied up the opponent’s batting line with a strong pitching staff.

That year, KT’s team average ERA was second (3.67), and the starters’ average ERA kept first place (3.69). Koo Gu-jin’s average ERA also ranked second (3.68), boasting a watertight mound.

KT’s mound was strong last year as well. The starting lineup (3.53) and Koo Won-jin (3.61) ranked 3rd and 2nd in ERA, respectively, and the team ERA marked 2nd place (3.51).

But this year is different.

Those who remained were also struggling while the injured occurred one after another.

KT’s team ERA this year is 4.69, ranking 9th. Both selection and salvation are struggling. The starting lineup ranked 8th (4.38), and the relief team ranked 10th (5.17).

Wes Benjamin and Bochulser, who should play the role of a one-two punch, are showing unsatisfactory performances with an average ERA of 5.40 with 3 wins and 2 losses and ERA of 4.20 with 1 win and 3 losses, respectively.

Fortunately, Eom Sang-baek and So-Jun So-jun recently returned from injuries, and Kim Min-soo is improving his condition by participating in the Futures (second team) league.안전놀이터

When those who have been waiting for them return, they can regroup and try to rebound.

Last year, KT fell to the bottom at the beginning of the season, but after July, it ranked first in win rate (0.638) and finished the season in 4th place.

However, in order to attempt a counterattack, it is necessary to prevent the gap with the top teams from widening further. KT is behind SSG Landers (20-10) in first place by 9.5 games.