Park Dong-won, LG’s ‘hummingbird’ at the helm of affairs Kia, too, has a 32-year-old left-hand submarine, ‘licorice’ in 2024
Park Dong-won is one win away from winning the Korean Series with the LG Twins. Park’s gift to the Kia Tigers has also settled in nicely.
When Park left for LG in the 2022-2023 free agency, he left a gift for Kia in the form of left-handed submarine Kim Dae-yu, 32. Kia had failed to negotiate Park’s retention, a process that would later reveal the sordid affairs of his predecessor. That made Kim’s success all the more important.
Kim went 2-4 with a 5.11 ERA in 41 games this season. That doesn’t look good at first glance, but it’s been stable except for April (12 games, 2-2, 12.79 ERA). If you take April out of the equation, he was 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA in 29 games.
He came back to life in May with a 1.35 ERA in seven games, but there was a three-month gap between May 28 against LG Electronics and September 2 against SSG. In fact, his removal from the first team was more of a strategic move than a slump. Kia had left-handed pitchers who could immediately handle the first inning.
However, his injury on June 15 against SSG in the Futures League caused him to take about a month off. At the time, coach Kim Jong-kook revealed that Kim Dae-yoo was injured in a second-team game. He returned on July 12 against the NC, but struggled. His ERA in July was 10.38.
However, he recovered perfectly with a 0.93 ERA with 3 holds and 1 save in 12 games in August, and eventually returned in time for the September expansion entry and continued his good trend. KIA has an excellent lefty setup man in Choi Ji-min and a one-point reliever in Lee Jun-young. However, lefty Kim Dae-yu, who has a different arm height, is a great addition to the bullpen.
In September and October, he actually did a good job of being a licorice, facing two or three batters to break up the flow. He doesn’t have a ton of innings to show for it, but he’s definitely helpful when he’s there and a card to remember when he’s not. He has some weaknesses with his fastball, which can be shaky at times, but he takes advantage of his arm height. His left-handed sidearm is still unfamiliar to hitters. 보스토토 주소
His fastball averaged 136.8 mph this season, according to Baseball-Reference. He hasn’t relied heavily on his fastball, instead utilizing his slider and curveball. His success this season has been largely due to his slider. It’s a pitch that can be called upon regardless of the score or the flow of the game, and it’s always ready to go.