“It’s the best card we can play right now.”
They lost to SSG Landers the day before and were confirmed to be in 5th place. It is okay to prepare for the Wild Card (WC) match, but Doosan Bears coach Seung-yeop Lee used the best lineup possible.
Doosan will play its final game of the season in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League visiting game against SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 17th.
They are in 5th place, 1.5 games behind 3rd place SSG and 1 game behind 4th place NC Dinos. On this day, NC lost to the KIA Tigers and Doosan won, so even though the winning percentage was the same, the relative record was the same, and 5th place was confirmed after being pushed out in the head-to-head score (64-66). But why did manager Lee Seung-yeop build the best batting lineup?
Manager Lee Seung-yeop is composed of Su-bin Jeong (center fielder), In-tae Kim (right fielder), Seok-hwan Yang (first baseman), Eui-ji Yang (designated hitter), Seung-ho Kang (second baseman), Jun-young Park (shortstop), Ji-hoon Park (third baseman), Seung-han Ahn (catcher), and Soo-haeng Cho. The starting lineup was formed as (left fielder). The starting pitcher is Jang Won-jun.
Regardless of the results on this day, Doosan’s ranking was fixed at 5th place. However, the WC opponent can be changed. If Doosan wins against SSG and NC draws or wins, 3rd and 4th place could be reversed.
It is difficult to say for sure which team is better. NC is somewhat comfortable in terms of relative performance this season. The score was tied at 8 wins and 8 losses. They were weak against SSG with 4 wins, 10 losses, and 1 draw.
However, if you think about the starting lineup, the situation changes. SSG pitched Roenis Elias the day before and Gwang-Hyeon Kim on this day. We had to secure 3rd place to get a direct ticket to the semi-playoffs, so we hit multiple odds.
However, if Doosan defeats SSG and clashes in the WC, the story will be different. Coach Won-hyung Kim previously announced Won-seok Oh and Seung-won Moon as the WC starting pitchers. Seung-won Moon was weak with an earned run average (ERA) of 10.80 in 4 games against Doosan this season, with 1 loss and 1 hold. Oh Won-seok showed his outstanding ability with 2 wins in 2 games and an ERA of 0.90, but it is true that he lacks weight compared to Kim Gwang-hyun and Elias, who he will face in fall baseball.
On the other hand, Doosan had Raul Alcantara on the mound the day before, but Kwak Bin and Brandon Waddell are on standby in the WC. It is evaluated that the weight is focused on Doosan in the starting matchup.
Therefore, Coach Lee placed Yang Eui-ji, who was hit in the face by a pitch the previous day, and Su-bin Jeong, who is experiencing physical ups and downs, in the starting lineup. Regarding Yang Eui-ji, “Fortunately, it is not a major injury, so I will play as a designated hitter today,” but “I probably won’t play until the end. I think I need to control my condition. The same goes for Subin. I need to manage my stamina. Just maintain a little sense of the game. “I’m going to give it to him. His stamina really dropped at the end of the season. He devoted himself so much to the team, so I have to give him everything I can,” he said.
Nevertheless, the fact that he was included in the starting line-up shows his determination to take the game if there is a chance of winning that day.
Of course, it also means preventing misunderstandings that violate the spirit of sports, such as intentional losses, in advance. Coach Lee said, “There is a relationship with SSG and NC. The rankings have not been decided yet,” and “It is a difficult choice because we cannot not manage the physical strength of our players and we have to look at the situations of both teams. There is only so much we can do.” “You have to do your best,” he explained.스포츠토토
However, it cannot be said that SSG is necessarily comfortable. There is a clear advantage in travel distance, but this is because they are showing the best performance in the league with 8 wins and 2 losses in the last 10 games. NC has 5 wins and 5 losses, and Doosan has 4 wins and 6 losses.
As expected, director Lee did not easily reveal his true feelings. When asked where it would be convenient to hold the WC, he said, “Jamsil” and laughed. “We don’t have a choice, so we will move according to nature and as the decision is made. Since we are one of the two teams, the team and coaches must prepare and play a good game. “I do it,” he said.
When asked whether SSG would have an advantage after using a one-two punch, he said, “I don’t know that. It will be decided based on the results of the game. We will have to prepare well and we have to win no matter what.”
SSG is Oh Tae-gon (1st baseman) – Kim Kang-min (center fielder) – Han Yu-seom (designated hitter) – Heredia (left fielder) – Ha Jae-hoon (right fielder) – Park Seong-han (shortstop) – Kim Seong-hyeon (3rd baseman) – Kim Min-sik (catcher) – Ahn Sang-hyun (2nd baseman) The batting order was determined by base number. Gwang-Hyeon Kim will be the starting pitcher.