The KIA Tigers, who could not guarantee fall baseball in the early and mid-season, raised the team atmosphere based on their powerful offense. Batter who could hit at any time were placed all over the batting line, tiring out the pitchers.
However, KIA is not surviving solely on slugging power. The fact that most operations produce good results is also one of the factors contributing to the upward trend. ‘Operation baseball’ showed its power at every crucial moment, including the timing of pinch hits. The LG Twins, who are leading the league, also stuck their tongues at KIA’s strategy.카지노사이트
KIA achieved 3 wins in 4 games, including a double header, in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against LG held at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 8th to 10th. Thanks to this, the team’s ranking rose one level from 5th to 4th, and there is a possibility of regaining not only 3rd place but also 2nd place.
KIA, who lost 2-12 on the first day of the series, started a counterattack from the first game of the double header the next day, and continued the game on the 10th following the second game of the double header. During this period, KIA hit only three home runs. In fact, with the exception of Choi Hyung-woo’s pinch-hit comeback grand slam and Na Seong-beom’s two-run shot in the second game, the home runs did not leave a strong impression.
Rather, strategy and active base running led to scoring and victory. As expected, what stood out the most was the ‘pinch hitter Ko Jong-wook’ card. Go Jong-wook, who appeared as a pinch hitter in the first and second games of the double header, hit timely hits in both games, laying the foundation for victory.
In the game on the 10th, KIA ran around non-stop from the beginning of the game, confusing LG’s infield. Starting with Kim Do-young’s stolen base in the bottom of the first inning, KIA recorded a whopping 8 stolen bases on this day, breaking the team’s most stolen bases in a single game this season. Even if we expand the scope to the history of the Tigers team, it is a record tied for second all-time, including the Haitai era.
The players and head coach also feel satisfied with the success of the operation. Choi Won-jun, who stole the base three times in the game on the 10th, said, “I think the players all know what timing the coach will use for his strategy, so it seems to work well to prepare according to the situation, and the team atmosphere improves every time that happens. “I feel like I’m coming back to life a lot,” he said, expressing his thoughts.
KIA coach Kim Jong-guk, who has been having a lot of fun with the pinch-hitting card recently, responded to a reporter’s question about whether he felt like he was in control. He smiled and said, “The players did a great job,” and then said, “The veterans did their part well in the opportunities,” and said, “The strategy was perfect.” Credit was given to the players who performed.
However, Coach Kim’s strategy is clearly having a positive impact on the team. Going back to the situation with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 5th inning of the 2nd game of the double header on the 9th, with the game trailing 3-5 to LG, the pinch hitter that KIA took out first was Jong-wook Ko. After Ko Jong-wook’s 1-run, timely hit, KIA immediately called in Choi Hyeong-woo, and the result exceeded expectations with a pinch-hit grand slam.
At the time, manager Kim Jong-guk, who was worried about the two pinch-hitting cards of Ko Jong-wook and Choi Hyeong-woo, said, “I thought there was a high probability that Ko Jong-wook would solve the problem first because he had more pinch-hitting experience, and I thought Choi Hyung-woo had (relatively) less experience as a pinch-hitting player because he was the starter.” He explained the situation by saying, “Because the team had room to spare, we had Ko Jong-wook as a pinch hitter first.”
Good results cannot be expected if only one of the head coach’s goals and the players’ operational capabilities are off, but the current KIA is steadily carrying out both. It is not just about power, but the fact that they act as a ‘team’ is becoming the driving force of the team.
