“I think I need to explain this. He asked me to change the runner before he left the mound in the sixth inning.”
Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon recently said sorry about Jaime Barria (28). As a foreign pitcher who leads the team’s starting lineup, he lacks responsibility to lead a long inning. Barria started against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 24th and threw only 67 pitches while allowing two runs in five innings, but he came down the mound and made his head tilt. Although Hanwha was able to laugh as it came from behind to win 7-6 after a close game that lasted until the 10th inning, Park Sang-won (1 inning), Lee Min-woo (0 inning), Han Seung-hyuk (1 inning), Kim Seo-hyun (four runs in ⅓ innings), Joo Hyun-sang (⅓ innings), Hwang Joon-seo (⅓ innings), and Lee Sang-kyu (2 innings).
Referring to the background of replacing Barria before the reporters asked, Kim said, “He asked me to change the number of pitches before the runner goes out (in the 6th inning). Of course, you have to throw 6 innings. That way, the bullpen can rest and the winning team can’t go out every day. As he went out, he told the pitching coach that, and I thought, “I will finish about 90,” without thinking about going to the 6th inning unconditionally. Then, I heard that from Yang Sang-moon, and as soon as I went out, he walked the first batter (Jeong Soo-bin), so I changed it that way.”
When a player requests replacement, there are usually reasons such as poor physical condition or poor physical condition. However, Barria did not. “It was not a matter of condition. I think he thought that he was a little weaker than he thought.” Rather than pointing out problems with Barria’s undulating pitching, Kim silently watched him, saying, “Coach should take care of our players,” but pointed out his attitude that was not right as a player on this day.
Barria started again in the game against the Sajik Lotte Giants on Sunday. Normally, he has to take the mound on Thursday if he takes five days off, but Hanwha had no game on Wednesday as the remaining schedule began. The three consecutive games against Lotte had to secure at least two wins in order for Hanwha to advance to the semifinals, prompting Barria to take the mound on Sunday, one day earlier. To put it positively, Barria pitched only 67 pitches in the previous game, so taking a four-day break would not be too much of a burden. Ryan Weiss, another foreign pitcher, took a four-day break under the same conditions as Barria, and started in the second game of the series against Lotte on Sunday.
Before the game, Kim said, “I think Barria will throw at least five innings for now. Judging from the pitching status in the sixth inning, I think our bullpen pitchers will have to watch from then on.”
However, Barria could not overcome Lotte’s batters at all. He ended up losing his fifth game (five wins) in this season by allowing only four runs with 24 pitches and no hits, one strikeout, and two strikeouts in one inning. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee opened the door with left-handed hits, while Ko Seung-min and Son Ho-young also had consecutive hits, loading the bases with no outs. When Victor Reyes got on base with a ground ball to the third baseman, Yoon Dong-hee was forced out of the home ground, and Lotte’s nightmare of scoreless batting was repeated the previous day, but the next batter Jeon Joon-woo hit a timely triple in right-center, and began to be dragged to 0-3. With two outs and third base, Jeong Hoon hit a timely hit to center field to make it 0-4.
Manager Kim didn’t let go of Barria any longer. Immediately before the bottom of the second inning, he replaced the mound with Han Seung-joo. It was natural that Barria did not display the pitching performance that foreign pitchers expected of him. As Hanwha had to seize this game in order to increase its chances of reaching the top five a little more, it had to seek counterattack by invoking the mood by replacing pitchers.
However, the game did not go as he wanted. Hanwha’s batters scored 11 points by hitting 18 hits in a long and short period, but suffered a crushing defeat 11-14 as the team struggled together after Barria went down. In the aftermath of Barria’s poor pitching, the team had to exhaust six bullpen pitchers including Han Seung-joo (one run in two innings), Kim Kyu-yeon (three runs in 0 innings), Lee Min-woo (three runs in two innings), Hwang Joon-seo (three runs in one inning), Lee Sang-kyu (in one ⅔) and Joo Hyun-sang (in the first ⅓ inning).
Hanwha’s performance in the KBO League as well as the game on this day is all the more regrettable because it brought Barria as the first starter. Barria signed with Hanwha for a total of $550,000 (about 700 million won) in May and chose to challenge in Korea. Hanwha wanted a real first starter with such good pitching that he decided to break up with Felix Peña, who had a very good walk-a-esque style. Barria made his big league debut for the Los Angeles Angels in 2018 and was a promising player who won 10 games while playing full-time starting pitcher that year. He hoped Hanwha would prove his stellar record of 22-32 losses, 462 ⅔ innings, and 4.38 ERA in 134 big league games (62 starts). 토토사이트
Three months later, Barria’s performance is coldly disappointing. He only had five wins and five losses, 68 ⅔ innings, and an ERA of 5.50 in 15 games. His ability to play in the innings, which is the starting pitcher’s foremost virtue, is so poor that he has only three quality starts. He recorded 108 pitches in two consecutive games against the Gwangju KIA Tigers on June 23 and the Sajik Lotte on June 28, and none of them exceeded 100 pitches except for these two games. Since July, no game has exceeded 90 pitches.
Likewise, Weiss, who joined the team in the middle of the season, can be compared in many ways. Weiss has displayed far better performance than Barria with four wins and three losses, 63 ⅔ innings and an earned run average of 3.25, and more than anything else, he has the capacity to play as an innings pitcher with eight quality starts. As a starting pitcher, he has a different sense of responsibility to lead a long innings. In addition, Weiss took four days off and pitched six scoreless innings in a match against Lotte on Sunday, leading the team to a 7-0 complete victory.
Hanwha’s three starting pitchers Weiss, Ryu Hyun-jin and Moon Dong-ju showed good pace recently, which enabled the team to continue its upward trajectory. Barria must also strengthen to become more competitive in the semifinal match. Manager Kim seems to have clearly conveyed the message by stealing the ball from Barria after just one inning on the day.
