Lotte Giants setup man Koo Seung-min (33) showed off his worst pitch of the season. But no one could criticize him.
In the match against kt Wiz in the ‘2023 Shinhan 먹튀검증 Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Sajik Stadium on the 26th, Koo Seung-min became the team’s fourth pitcher in the top of the 8th inning, with the team leading 5-2.
Is Koo Seung-min tired after three consecutive fights until today? He pitched a little difficult. He faced a crisis by giving up leadoff hitter Anthony Alford a double through center right. Afterwards, he struck out Sang-cheol Moon and took a breather, but he allowed Oh Yoon-seok to hit 1 RBI in a timely manner and conceded 5-3. The crisis continued, and he struck out Bae Jeong-dae, but gave a right-handed hit to Shin Bong-gi and a walk to Kim Min-hyuk, making the bases loaded with two outs before coming down the mound.
Kim Won-joong climbed the mound following Koo Seung-min, got 2 RBIs from Park Kyung-soo at the bases with 2 outs, and gave up 3 points, including Kurtman Goodrum’s throwing error, and was turned 5-6. Seung-Min Koo, who had a hold pitcher condition, lost the hold condition as the team took the lead. After Ahn Ji-man (2012-2015), he had to postpone the 20-hold challenge for the second consecutive four years in the KBO League to the next, and at the same time, he had to watch the team lose 6-8 and fall into a swamp of six consecutive losses.
For Lotte, in a situation where they were leading until the second half of the game, it was very regrettable that the trustworthy Seung-min Koo was shaken with 3 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts and 4 runs (3 earned runs) in ⅔ innings. However, no one could say anything bad about Gu Seung-min. It’s because he’s fully dedicated to the team.
Koo Seung-min is recording an average ERA of 3.88 in 53 1/3 innings with 19 holds and 3 saves in 57 games this year. In terms of the number of games played, he is tied for second in the league with Park Young-hyun (kt/59 games), Kim Jin-seong, Ham Deok-joo (LG Twins), and Kim Sang-soo (Lotte). He has played in more than half of the 107 games the team has played so far.
In the second half, Koo Seung-min is used more often. Seung-Min Koo is called in various situations, such as when the team is leading, or when the team is trailing by a narrow margin and wants to keep the score difference and catch up at the end of the game. In fact, Koo Seung-min pitched in 18 of the 30 games the team played after the All-Star break. Last week and this week, there were two 3 consecutive fights. It was a situation where the burden could definitely go because the day was getting hotter and hotter.
However, the situation of the team, which was in an urgent need to escape from a five-game losing streak until this day, and the fact that there was no pitcher to put forward in a tight situation in the second half of the game, having already used Choi Jun-yong and Kim Sang-soo, made setup man Seung-min Koo climb the mound for three days in a row.
According to the baseball statistics site, Statties, Koo Seung-min threw 1006 pitches, the second most among bullpen pitchers in the league this year. As evidenced by the number of games played, innings, and pitches, he has been consistently doing his part for the team this season.
It is true that Koo Seung-min was shaken for a while and could not do his part. Moreover, the team’s losing streak has also increased to ‘6’. However, at times like this, wouldn’t we need warmer eyes and encouragement?