The KIA Tigers, who have won a ticket to the Korean Series for the first time in seven years, are aiming for a record party in the remaining seven games.
Kia lost 0-2 to the SSG Landers in an away game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Wednesday. However, at the same time, the second-ranked Samsung Lions lost to the Doosan Bears in a game held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, erasing all of its magic numbers that confirmed its No. 1 ranking in the regular league.
Kia, which has confirmed its regular league championship, has seven more games to play until the end of the 2024 season. Attention is now focusing on whether Kia players will achieve records in the remaining games.
Kim will become the second player in the KBO League and the first Korean player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. With 37 home runs and 39 stolen bases as of Thursday, Kim has three home runs and one stolen base to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases.
In the history of the Korean pro baseball league, Eric Thames, who played for the NC Dinos, is the only player who hit 40 home runs and 40 steals. In 2015, he had 47 home runs and 40 stolen bases. No Korean player has been listed on the 40-homer club.
Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho will add support to Kim Do-young’s great challenge. Lee said, “We plan to adjust batting order to help Kim take the batter’s box more often.” With seven games to go, Lee has enough time to hand over players’ records.
If he hits 40 home runs, Kim will set another record. He will tie the 1999 record of the Tigers` most homeruns in a season for batters. Currently, he has 37 homers, surpassing Kim Sang-hyun (36) in 2009 and breaking the previous season’s record for batters in Korea.
On the mound, Yang Hyeon-jong, who is a crossbeam, is in front of the goal of pitching 170 innings for the first 10 years in a row in the KBO league. He only needs to throw three more ⅔ in the next game.
Yang pitched more than 170 innings every season, except for 2014 when he played 171 ⅓ innings and 2021 when he entered the Major League Baseball (MLB). He has become the oldest pitcher in his mid-30s, but he is still keeping the mound as the most reliable team. 스포츠토토
Yang Hyun-jong, who is in his late 30s with Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles) and Kim Kwang-hyun (SSG Landers), made the most consistent performance this year.
Having remained in the rotation despite holes in the team’s starting lineup throughout the season, he pitched in 28 games to post 11 wins. On the other hand, Ryu and Kim suffered frequent ups and downs.
Closer Jeong Hae-young has reserved the Tigers’ relief pitcher for the first time in 26 years. He made 30 saves to widen his gap with Oh Seung-hwan (27) of the Samsung Lions.
This year marks the third time that Jung has made 30 saves in a season since she assumed the position of completion in 2021. On top of that, she has become a representative firefighter in the league, setting a new record of 100 saves in her career.
If he builds more saves in the remaining games and keeps the top spot in this category, he will become the relief king for the first time in 26 years as a Tigers player since Lim Chang-yong in 1998.
Kia will meet with the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday, before going down to Gwangju to face off with the NC Dinos on Wednesday, the Samsung Lions on Sunday and the Lotte Giants on Saturday. The team will then close the regular league with two consecutive visiting games against the Hanwha Eagles on Sunday and the Lotte Giants on Sunday.
