Samsung Lions pitcher Oh Seung-hwan (42) failed to join the Korean Series after all. Samsung manager Park Jin-man was calm but made the decision for the team. After all, no player was greater than the team.
Samsung, which will enter the best-of-seven Korean Series (KS) with Kia, the winner of the regular league, from Monday, has only one entry changed for Samsung, which has 30 players compared to the playoff. Outfielder Kim Hyun-jun joined the team as pitcher Lee Ho-sung was out. Koo Ja-wook, who suffered a knee injury in the second round of the PO, is having difficulty in defense and running base, so outfielder Kim Hyun-joon has joined the KS.
Oh and Connor had no names. Connor, who left for the U.S. ahead of the PO due to injury recovery reasons, was not expected to be able to return, but Oh was surprised. Oh could have given a spot in the bullpen to Oh in the KS, even as a gesture of respect to legend, but he was wrong.
Coach Park Jin-man said on whether Oh Seung-hwan would join the entry at the media day held on the 20th, “We had a general meeting after the PO was over. I thought about it (including the entry) because he is a player with a lot of KS experience, but we decided to go with the players now because our bullpen played well in the PO.”
As Park said, Oh has more experience in KS than anyone else. He played in a total of six KS games (33 ⅓ innings) between 2005 and 2006, and 2010-2013, and posted one win, one loss and 11 saves with an ERA of 0.81 and 49 strikeouts. He recorded the most saves in KS history, which was the MVP of the team in 2005 and 2011. During the period, Samsung won five KS championships, and Oh finished the entire game in the last minute.
Such brilliant history has never disappeared, but the reality is very calm. Oh recorded three wins, nine losses and 27 saves and two holds with an ERA of 4.91 in 58 games (55 innings) this year. It was his worst season in his career with eight blon saves. Notably, he showed sluggish performance in 23 games (18 ⅔ innings) with two wins and five losses and two holds with an ERA of 9.64, amid deteriorating pitching capability since July. He left his position to play in the second division in mid-August, but continued to feel anxious.
The game against Kiwoom in Daegu on April 22nd, when Samsung ranked second, was the decisive hit. He came to the mound at the ninth inning with a 9-2 lead, but ended up allowing four hits (one homer), one walk, one strikeout, and six runs in ⅔ innings. All six runs were considered non-penalty due to overlapping defense errors, but failed to block a seven-point lead, losing trust in the coaching staff. Eventually, he moved back to the second division the next day. 메이저사이트
Coach Park Jin-man left open the possibility for Oh to join the postseason as his ball power recovers. Oh played in Futures League games on May 2 and 4, and neatly blocked Lotte and KT with one strikeout and no run in two consecutive innings. However, Park did not call Oh in the KS after PO.
As Park said, Samsung’s bullpen was okay with 3.86 earned run average (ERA) in relief from PO without Oh. Except for allowing four runs in the ninth inning when the team was leading 10-1 in the second game, Samsung has displayed stability by allowing one run in nine ⅓ innings in the remaining three games. Kim Jae-yoon (two ⅓, one ⅔, one save), Lim Chang-min (three innings, one hold, three innings, one hold), Kim Yoon-soo (three innings, one hold, three innings, one run), Kim Tae-hoon (three games, three innings, one run), left-hander Lee Seung-hyun (three ⅓, two innings, one loss) and Lee Sang-min (one ⅔, two innings, one score) played their roles. There is no need to shake the bullpen, which is maintaining good performance.
Of course, Oh Seung-hwan could have been placed in the positions of Choi Chae-heung and Lee Seung-min, who were included in the PO but never deployed. It is sufficient to be placed at the end of the bullpen. However, it does not look so good to use a symbolic pitcher like Oh at a time when the game is heavily tilted. Oh said he does not care about the position, but he cannot use it as a “gasp expense.” The position should be used to help young pitchers gain experience.
In the end, no player is greater than the team. He had brighter moments than anyone else in the KS as the leader of the Samsung Dynasty, but cannot be used as a must-winner at this juncture. This is a cold reality. Coach Park Jin-man, who has been with Oh for a long time since his playing days, must have been reluctant to make such a decision. However, he made the decision after putting his team first. Samsung fans are also heartbroken, but they seem to understand Park’s decision.
