SSG Landers manager Lee Sung-yong criticized national starting pitcher Oh Won-seok (23), whose skills have been stagnant for several years.
Oh Won-seok joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) as the first pick in the 2020 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Sujin Elementary School, Maesong Middle School, and Yatap High School. As a left-hander who throws fast balls, he received the opportunity to become the second Kim Kwang-hyun since joining the team. He was given the opportunity to start in earnest from 2021, his second year, and has been a full-time starting pitcher for four years.
The team has surpassed the required innings (144 innings) for the second consecutive year, and is facing the required innings this season with six wins and nine losses with a 5.10 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 120 innings. Having made progress little by little, it was the first time that he was selected for the national team at the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship (APBC) last year.
However, Oh had a tagline that was catching up with him. He claimed that he was shaken up after the fifth inning, making it difficult for him to digest innings. In fact, he started more than 20 times every year, but rarely made quality starts (more than six innings, three earned runs, or QS), which is the basic virtue of starting a pitcher. In 2022 alone, he only made 11 double-digit quality starts out of 24 games, and this year he only made two starts in 25 games.
Oh Won-seok and SSG cite psychological problems as the cause, but they have not improved even after harsh words and good words. The coach also seemed to feel limited as he has not changed every year. “I think Oh will have to think a lot about it after the season is over,” SSG manager Lee Soo-yong said in a meaningful remark ahead of the match against the LG Twins in Jamsil on Tuesday. 먹튀검증
He was Lee, who had continued to show faith in Oh Won-seok, but the day was different. “Last year, I became a late coach, so there were things I didn’t see, such as finishing camp. I didn’t have much time to figure out the players. So, there was a part that moved with the existing framework, but now I have confirmed it to some extent. Maybe after the season, I will review with the coach team and set the direction a little more firmly and think about various things,” Lee said.
Oh Won-seok’s position was one of them. In fact, Oh often plays as a long relief pitcher at the end of the season as he failed to manage innings every year. “It is right for Oh and Song Young-jin to continue as starting pitchers for the rest of this year,” Lee said.
“I’ve been giving Oh a chance to start for four years. This is my current performance. Then, I don’t know. I wonder what kind of decision I should make after considering it. If a starting pitcher comes in after taking a five-day break, he or she should fill up the innings to match it. It’s not like he’s not trying, but his current performance is not good enough,” he said.
Song Young-jin (20), a junior, also believes that the pace of change is regrettable. Song Young-jin is a right-hander who joined the SSG as the 15th player in the second round of the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Daejeon Yucheon Elementary School, Hanbat Middle School, and Daejeon High School. Song has been receiving opportunities to start the game little by little this year, but he has made three quality starts in 18 appearances. His performance in the season is not good enough with four wins and nine losses with a 5.80 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 90 innings, but he certainly has excellent absorption capacity. At the match against LG in Jamsil on the 4th, he replaced Oh Won-seok, who was substituted for four runs (two earned runs) in two innings, and allowed one run in the remaining six innings to rest the bullpen.
“Song Young-jin also performed very well in the Wednesday match. (Song) Young-jin absorbs a lot when given feedback. For example, there were a lot of miscellaneous movements during windup, but he keeps them simple. When he gives feedback on tempo control and check movements, he also follows a lot. He pitched perfectly for six innings yesterday as well.”
