The gust of Hanwha Eagles has subsided in an instant. In fact, the fall baseball of Hanwha has become difficult again this year.
Hanwha suffered a crushing defeat at the match against the Samsung Lions in Daejeon on Sunday local time. While starting pitcher Jaime Barria collapsed by allowing six runs in three ⅔ innings, the team had no chance of winning, as the team only scored one run by making two hits in a short period. The Samsung batters completely destroyed the mound by garnering 17 hits in a short period.
With four consecutive losses, Hanwha has recorded 60 wins, 68 losses and two draws this season, falling from the sixth to the eighth. It has widened its gap with the fifth-ranked Doosan Bears by 3.5 games, narrowing its gap with the ninth-ranked NC Dinos by two games. It seems difficult for Hanwha to narrow its gap with the fifth-ranked team in the remaining 14 games.
The departure of Moon Dong-ju, who had the best pace in the second half of the year, was painful. He felt tired on his shoulder while preparing to start the game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 8th, and although he did not hear any specific findings from the hospital examination, the player himself continues to feel uncomfortable. Hanwha left Moon Dong-ju in the first-team entry for now, waiting for his condition to improve, but decided to cancel it from the first-team entry and give him enough time to rest because it is currently impossible to pitch. Considering Hanwha’s remaining number of games this season, it seems to be actually out of the season. This is because there is no reason for Moon Dong-ju to return within the regular season too much at a time when he has a problem with his sensitive shoulder.
Manager Kim said, “I hope Dong-ju doesn’t get sick and comes back to the starting rotation, but it didn’t work out well. Then I have to forget it again. Now I’m trying to prepare for the position with starting pitchers such as Kim Ki-jung and our team.” 메이저사이트
Moon Dong-ju was a huge help in Hanwha’s competition for the semifinals. Moon Dong-ju had 4 wins, 1 loss, 45 innings, and a 2.60 ERA in 8 games in the second half. He is the No. 1 ERA among Hanwha starters and has the highest winning rate of 0.800. In the match against the Doosan Bears in Daejeon on the 3rd, his last appearance, he seemed to announce the return of last year’s Rookie of the Year Moon Dong-ju with a maximum speed of 160.1km. Since Moon Dong-ju left, Kim’s mind could have been complicated.
However, it was not just Moon Dong-ju who left the mound due to injury. While the team has suffered four consecutive losses recently, the Hanwha Eagles only posted a batting average of 0.165 (20 hits in 121 times at bat). Among the 10 teams during the period, the Hanwha Eagles is the only team that failed to post a batting average of .200. As the Eagles scored only seven points in four games, they could hardly beat the first starter Ryan Weiss.
The collective silence of the main hitters was painful. In the past four games, No. 4 hitter Noh Si-hwan had no hit in 14 times at bat, Peraza had 1 hit in 10 times at bat, Hwang Young-mook had 1 hit in 11 times at bat, Jang Jin-hyuk had no hit in 11 times at bat, An Chi-hong had no hit in 6 times at bat, and Choi Jae-hoon had no hit in 7 times at bat. He would have to use his bat to score points that he squeezed by using his strategy, but there was nothing he could do about it because he had few on-base hits. Kwon Kwang-min, a bench member, had three hits in 6 times at bat (two homers) with three RBIs, which illustrates how many of the main players failed to perform their part.
Hanwha even postponed its ace pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin’s appearance at a time when the fall baseball season is far away. In terms of rotation, Ryu has to start against Daejeon Samsung on the 12th, but Hanwha announced Kim Ki-joong as its starting pitcher on the 12th. Kim Ki-joong was a candidate for Moon Dong-ju’s substitute starting pitcher.
Hanwha had no detailed explanation about Ryu’s failure to keep his starting rotation. However, it does not seem that the postponement of Ryu’s starting pitching is not a positive situation for Hanwha, as Moon Dong-joo has effectively ended the season. Hanwha had dreamed of its first fall since 2018, but now the flame is rapidly disappearing.
