KT is making a magical comeback. It started at the bottom of the list and has already entered the semi-finals. It is reviving memories of the last season when it performed well due to rebound in the second half of the year.
KT beat SSG 5-3 on the 24th to rank fifth with SSG. It is still unstable because it has a three-game gap with Doosan in fourth place and has the same winning rate as NC in seventh place. However, it is significant in that it is KT’s first advance to the top five this season.
KT, which started this season with four consecutive wins, remained at the bottom of the list throughout the first half of the season. It was ranked seventh the highest. Having been ranked ninth in the league until June 30, KT instantly elevated its ranking by winning six consecutive games in the second half. KT’s winning rate in the second half of the year is 0.800, which is the second highest after KIA’s 0.846. Compared with its winning rate in the first half of the year at 0.458, the team has significantly changed.
In particular, the pitching staff has become solid. KT’s ERA in the second half is 3.82, the lowest in the league. The ERA in the first half was 5.23. Ace Ko Young-pyo’s ERA this month has been sluggish at 7.59, but William Cuevas’ ERA has dropped to 3.27 as he overcame difficulties in controlling the ball recently. Um Sang-baek struck out eight against NC on the 19th and pitched six scoreless innings.
With the return of injured starting pitchers, the bullpen seems to be stabilizing. Park Young-hyun, Woo Kyu-min and Park Se-jin scored no runs in all innings as relief pitchers in the second half of the season, laying the groundwork for their team’s victory. 메이저사이트
The batting lineup is also hot. Foreign batter Mel Rojas Jr., who is a table setter, is penetrating the blood of offense with a batting average of 0.436. Veteran Kim Sang-soo, who was out injured in May, has also shown his best batting performance since his return. Kim Sang-soo played in 10 games in the second half with a batting average of 0.400. If Kang Baek-ho, who has shown somewhat sluggish performance recently, is revived, KT will have nothing to be afraid of in terms of hitting.
Shim Woo-joon and Kwon Dong-jin, who joined the first team entry on the 16th after being discharged from the military athletic unit, are also immediately contributing to the team’s rise as power. KT, which was vulnerable to running baseball, has another attack option with the addition of Shim Woo-joon, who won the steal in the 2020 season.
KT started at the bottom of the standings with one win and seven losses at the beginning of the 2020 season, but advanced to the playoffs by ranking fifth in the regular season. In the 2021 season, the team had a bad start with two wins and five losses in seven games right after the opening, but won the Korean Series. In the 2022 season, it fell to the bottom with two wins and nine losses in its first 11 games, but advanced to the semi-playoffs. “KT Magic,” which started from the bottom and shows a scary upward curve, has started this season as well.
