“I gave him caution. That alone can affect the entire team’s mood, so he pointed out what he should point out after the game. I don’t think he will look like that in the next game.”
Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man scolded Connor Seibold, who started the game against the Doosan Bears in Pohang on Monday. Connor had only three hits (one homer), five walks, five strikeouts and four runs in five innings, taking his sixth loss (nine wins) of the season. Connor had a 2-0 lead through the third inning, continuing his five-game winning streak, but he lost 2-5 as Connor suddenly faced a fire in his mound condition and his control collapsed rapidly.
Corner allowed Jarrod Young to chase after him by 2-1 when he was hit with a superior solo shot in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, he caught Jarrod’s first strike and threw a fastball of 143 km/h, his second pitch, which became a huge hit that stretched out of the fence. Still, Corner finished the inning well without losing any more runs.
In the top of the fifth inning, Connor began to show a sensitive attitude to the mound. When pitching, he showed signs of discomfort by continuing to spike several times in the dirt where he stepped. In the process, he gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Kim Jae-hwan and a walk to Kim Jae-ho even after one out, putting him on the verge of first and second bases. Both Kim Jae-hwan and Kim Jae-ho had two strikes first and allowed them, so they felt even worse. Eventually, pitching coach Chung Dae-hyun visited the mound to check why Connor kept digging with spikes, calmed him down, and returned to the dugout.
However, the corner had already collapsed. The next batter, Cho, got on base with a ground ball to the first base, holding on to the first and third bases with two outs, and Jeong Su-bin was also on the verge of loading the bases. He then allowed Lee Yoo-chan to make a timely two-run hit to the right, turning the game upside down to 2-3. Lee Yoo-chan’s hit flew vaguely over the second baseman’s head, leading to a hit. The corner was extended to 2-4 by allowing Jarrod to make a timely hit to the right with two outs and runners on the first and third bases. Corner tried to deal with the next batter, Yang Eui-ji, with a pitcher foul fly, but couldn’t hold back his anger and threw the ball to the floor before returning to the dugout.
Coach Park did not overlook this scene. Corner threw 95 pitches until the fifth inning, and judged that he was excited, so he started the bullpen session from the sixth inning. Coach Park called Corner after the game, and in particular, pointed out his attitude when throwing the ball at the end, and gave him a strong warning.
Before the match against Doosan Bears in Pohang was canceled on the 22nd, coach Park said, “That action alone can control the entire team’s atmosphere. I pointed out what I should point out after the game, so I don’t think I’ll see that in the next game.” 메이저사이트
“I also expressed that because it’s not going as well as I wanted, but I think I should think of a way to hide it alone rather than in the presence of the entire team.” I hope that the overall trend (of the game) will not change because of that atmosphere. After that action, yesterday (21st) our bench was a little down. So all the players, the staff, and I were fighting a little bit and comforting each other, but that behavior can bring down the team’s atmosphere again. That kind of behavior was a bit of a warning,” he said.
Conor is spending his first season in Korea after signing a contract with Samsung this year, but he was a little sensitive to the mound even before the Pohang game. “Conor had a lot of situations like that (expressing dissatisfaction with the mound) in Daegu early this season as well. He seems to be the most sensitive among our starting pitchers. Won Tae-in says it’s okay and Conor says it’s not good. This is something we can do about it. I don’t know if all the players said that, but Conor is the most sensitive. Conor has no choice but to overcome it according to the situation,” Park said.
I understood it as an act that came out because he was so passionate about winning on the mound. Coach Park emphasized, “We are in our first year this year, but the corners are really gentle except for the game. He is quiet and gentle, but I think that’s the desire to win. There is definitely a bit of a hot-tempered side, but if you look at it in a good way, it can break the team’s mood in a group game, so I talked about it and gave him a message, so I don’t think he will show that from the next game.”
Connor had high expectations by signing a contract with Samsung for a total of 1 million U.S. dollars this year. Samsung had high expectations to receive the maximum amount that a new foreign player could receive. Connor has been leading Samsung’s starting lineup throughout the season, except when he was on the 10-day injured list once early this month. Connor had nine wins and six losses, 141 ⅔ innings and an ERA of 3.81 in 25 games, displaying sufficient performance to renew his contract.
However, no matter how good the performance is, if the team continues to break the mood, it will be disadvantageous for the team to renew the contract. Can Connor continue to express his desire to win in a more positive way and empower Samsung to secure second place at the end of the season.
