The professional baseball team SSG Landers has been struggling with pitching lately.
Especially the bullpen is a problem. SSG’s bullpen ERA since August is 5.94 through 13 days, the worst among the 10 teams.
SSG, which was in second place until Aug. 18, began a steep decline and is now in a situation where fall baseball is not guaranteed.
Through 13 days, SSG is in fourth place with 62 wins, 55 losses, two ties, and a .530 winning percentage. They are half a game behind the fifth-place KIA Tigers and two games behind the sixth-place Doosan Bears.
SSG is literally hanging on by squeezing every last drop of power out of the tank.
At the center of it all are senior bullpens Noh Kyung-eun (39) and Ko Hyo-joon (40).
The two pitchers, who are in their 40s according to traditional Korean math, are the last hope for SSG’s bullpen.
Noh has the best performance among the bullpen pitchers despite her age.
In his six appearances since September, he has pitched 6⅓ innings and allowed just one run. His ERA in that span is 1.42.
He also pitched 2⅓ innings in a home game against the KT Wiz on September 9.
The best pitcher, Ko Hyo-jun, has also been outstanding, throwing five consecutive scoreless innings, starting on May 5 against the Hanwha Eagles.
He has been dominating batters, striking out nine of his 14 batters in that span.
Manager Kim Won-hyung feels both grateful and sorry for the two players every time he sees them.
“I feel a lot of things when I see them,” Kim said on Thursday ahead of the 2023 Baseball World Series game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. “They moved to SSG side by side last season and have been throwing the ball with all their might. I think they have a special heart for the team.”
“They always stayed after the game to train,” he said, adding, “I think the younger players will learn a lot from them.” 스포츠토토