The schedule for Doosan Bears’ native ace Kwak Bin’s last appearance before joining the national team has been confirmed.
After the 14th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League season against the KIA Tigers, which was scheduled to be held at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 16th, was canceled due to rain, Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop selected Raul Alcantara and Kwak Bin as starters in the KIA game on the 17th and 18th. He said he would.
Initially, it was expected that Kwak Bin would appear as a starting pitcher in the game on the 17th and then again as a starter in the game against the Daegu Samsung Lions on the 22nd, just before joining the national team after a four-day break. However, since the game on the 16th was canceled due to rain and was rescheduled on the 18th, Doosan will have to play an 8-game series. Kwak Bin’s pitching schedule was also adjusted. Therefore, Kwak Bin ended up playing only one game before joining his national team.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “It’s a burden. We played a game on Monday in Busan last week, and we’re playing again on Monday in two weeks. Last week, we were supposed to play a 9-game series, but it rained so we took a day off, and if it doesn’t rain this time, we’ll play an 8-game series.” “I have to think about it, so if this happens, Kwak Bin will not be able to throw on the 22nd and will have to go to the national team. (Someone) will have to fill that spot. It will be a mess, so I think we will have to reorganize,” he said.
Kwak Bin showed a bit of a slump in his last two appearances, failing to complete 5 innings and being replaced, but he is an essential player for the team in that he played the role of a native ace throughout the season. This season’s record is 10 wins, 7 losses, 21 games, 115⅓ innings, and an average ERA of 3.12.
When Kwak Bin is in good condition, he usually pitches 5 to 6 innings, and sometimes even goes into the 7th or 8th inning. One of the challenges Doosan must solve as it challenges fall baseball is for the mound to hold up well when Kwak Bin is missing for more than two weeks.메이저놀이터
As Kwak Bin is unable to start against Samsung on the 22nd, a change in the starting rotation is inevitable. First of all, left-handers Jang Won-jun and Choi Seung-yong will play against Jamsil NC Dinos on the 19th and 20th, and if all goes as planned, it will be Brandon Waddell’s turn as the starter in the game against Samsung on the 21st. However, with the 8-game schedule confirmed, the rotation after the 21st has not been decided.
Due to the nature of the remaining game schedule, teams with relatively loose schedules can continue to feature 1 to 3 starters. Doosan, playing an 8-game series, was in a difficult situation. Manager Lee Seung-yeop expressed concern, saying, “I’m actually worried about that because the opposing team is going to continue to have strong pitchers.” It remains to be seen whether 6th-place Doosan, which kept the spark of hope alive with 5 consecutive wins, will continue to maintain hope even in the absence of Kwak Bin.