It collapsed again this time. Baek Jeong-hyeon (37) of the Samsung Lions was substituted early. Samsung, which also has to devise a mound for the postseason, is in deep agony.
Baek started the game against the SSG Landers of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Sunday. However, he left the mound early after allowing four hits, one homer, one walk, three strikeouts and three runs in two ⅓ innings. Baek, who has been mired in a slump recently, failed to overcome the SSG lineup. Samsung had an all-out bullpen session on the day, but lost to SSG 9-11.
Baek threw 48 pitches on the day. He was declared strike out of 26 pitches. Baek, who is slow in controlling his ball speed, has been dealing with batters through controlling his ball control and controlling his speed. However, as his ball control was shaky, he had no choice but to suffer on the mound.
Paik has shown poor performance in all of his recent appearances. He was substituted after allowing 10 hits, three homers, three strikeouts, and eight runs (seven earned runs) during four ⅔ innings against the Lotte Giants in Daegu on August 24. His performance was even worse at the match against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju on August 31. The team showed poor performance in the first ⅓ with seven hits, two outs and five strikeouts. At the match against NC Dinosaurs on September 7, Paik had 13 hits, three homers, seven strikeouts, and nine runs in six innings with no outs. His nickname “NC’s natural enemy” was overshadowed by his poor performance.
Baek was also hit hard by the SSG’s batting lineup, which has been suffering from ups and downs in recent months. His team’s batting average for September at SSG remained in seventh place with 0.241. He only scored 25 runs to end up in ninth place. However, Baek, who gave up a solo home run to left-handed from the first inning to leadoff hitter Park Sung-han, was hit twice by leadoff hitter Han Yoo-som in the second inning as well. He struck out Oh Tae-gon and handled Ha Jae-hoon to the first base on a foul fly, but Lee Ji-young gave an RBI single to left-handedness.
The team also faced a run-scoring crisis in the third inning. With no runners on base with one out, Baek allowed Choi Jeong to double. Soon after, the Samsung bench moved. Baek handed the ball over to his pitching coach, Jeong Dae-hyun, and headed to the dugout. The number of runs increased when the changed pitcher Song Eun-beom got a left-handed double from Guillermo Herredia, the first third-party player, and Choi Jeong, who was on second base, homered. 먹튀검증
This year, Baek Jeong-hyun was out for a while due to an injury, but after his return, he continued to play in the starting rotation. He has been showing good pitching following the starters, who are foreign one-two punch Connor Seabold, Denny Reyes, and Won Tae-in. Samsung was able to compete for the top spot because of Baek Jung-hyun’s performance.
However, in the last four games, Baek has been sluggish in 14 ⅔ innings with two losses and an earned run average of 14.73. Baek has become a concern for Samsung, which is advancing to the postseason for the first time in three years. Veteran players with a lot of experience are desperately needed in short-term games. There are 10 pitchers with wins including Connor Seabold, Denny Reyes, and Won Tae-in, but they do not have a lot of experience in short-term games. “If we advance to the postseason, we are agonizing over how to use Baek,” coach Park Jin-man said before the game.
There are many veteran pitchers in the bullpen who can take the center stage in short-term games, including Kim Jae-yoon, Lim Chang-min, and Oh Seung-hwan, but the starting situation is different. Won Tae-in also stood on the fall stage only once. In the second round of the playoffs against the Doosan Bears in 2021, he pitched for the third time, allowing two hits and three outs in the first ⅓ inning. Won also has no experience as a starting pitcher in the postseason.
Manager Park Jin-man stressed, “There are so many experienced players on the bullpen side. They are not starting pitchers. Foreign players and Won Tae-in also played well, but all three do not have much postseason experience. Therefore, experienced players should lead the team in the postseason. We need to turn the mood around because we expect Baek to play such a role.”
However, Baek Jung-hyun failed to rebound and left the mound without completing the third inning. Samsung is expected to be deeply concerned about how to utilize Baek Jung-hyun.
