Following the recruitment of catcher Kim Tae-gun during the season, attention is focused on whether the KIA Tigers, who made a superpower by replacing all foreign pitchers, will be able to make a counterattack.
KIA started trading when its ranking recently fell to 9th.
On the 5th, the Samsung Lions traded catcher Kim Tae-gun and infielder Ryu Ji-hyuk. In order to strengthen the catcher position, which had been pointed out as a weakness since before the season, he endured the bleeding of infielder Ryu Ji-hyeok.
Following this, KIA made a strong move to replace all existing foreign pitchers. On the morning of the 6th, the new foreign pitcher Mario Sanchez, and in the afternoon, the official recruitment of Thomas Panoni continued with a bold move.
The effect of the trade was immediately enjoyed.
Wearing a KIA uniform, Kim Tae-gun led the team’s victory by wearing a catcher’s mask on the 6th and forming battery breathing with ace Yang Hyeon-jong.
Kim Tae-gun, who supported Yang Hyeon-jong’s 5 innings and 1 run, showed off his formidable offensive power by playing an active role with 2 hits and 2 RBIs in 4 at-bats. In particular, against opponent ace Kim Gwang-hyun, he struck two timely hits to lighten Yang Hyeon-jong’s shoulders.
Catcher Kim Tae-gun came in to breathe new life into the team, and in the process of replacing all foreign pitchers, KIA succeeded in reversing the atmosphere by winning two consecutive victories against SSG, the second-place team in the enemy area. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the team now depends on the two new foreign pitchers.
The newly recruited Sanchez and Panoni both have distinct strengths and weaknesses.
Sanchez made a big success with 8 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 1.44 in 10 Taiwanese professional baseball games this year. There is no major league experience, and in the minor leagues, he recorded a career record of 44 wins and 33 losses and an ERA of 3.94 over 10 years.
Although he achieved excellent results in the Taiwanese league, it is not easy to assert success in the higher-level KBO league.안전놀이터
In the case of Panoni, who was re-recruited, he pitched 82.2 innings in 14 games in the KBO League last season, recording an average ERA of 2.72 with 3 wins and 4 losses. Although he recorded a decent earned run average, he failed to renew his contract with the KIA due to poor inning digestibility.
From the KIA point of view, we have to bet this season on the performance of two foreign pitchers who are not sure of success, but it remains to be seen whether the match will work.