The national fireballer, who won the May MVP award, and a new foreign pitching duo will start a three-game weekend series. Can ‘Lion King’ Lee Seung-yup’s lion phobia be cured?
The Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) are set to begin a three-game weekend series against the Samsung Lions of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 12.
Last year, in Lee Seung-yeop’s first year as head coach, Doosan was 11-5 against Samsung. This year, however, the tables have turned 180 degrees with a 1-8 record. They’ve suffered two sweeps and have a real case of lion phobia.
It was a nightmare from the start. They suffered a shock sweep in the three-game series in Daegu from April 16 to 18, and although they moved the venue to a sleeping room on April 30 and won 4-0, they dropped back-to-back games on May 1 and 2 to fall to 1-2 in the Luzing Series. They then dropped the three-game series in Daegu from June 21-23 to fall to 1-8 in the series.
The doubleheader on the 23rd was particularly painful.
Doosan, which has been consistently in the top half of the standings this season, is inferior to three teams: the Kia Tigers (5 wins, 1 draw, and 6 losses), Samsung (1 win, 8 losses), and the SSG Landers (4 wins, 5 losses). However, as their head-to-head record shows, Samsung is the only team that seems to have a hard time getting past them.
Doosan paid special attention to its starting rotation for the three-game series to overcome lion phobia. They decided to give their homegrown ace Kwak-bin extra rest, 카지노사이트 추천 quickly finalize the signing of a foreign pitcher, and use their newly built first, second, and third lineup against Samsung.
On the first day, homegrown ace Kwak Bin will be in charge. Kwak has a season record of 7-6 with a 3.59 ERA in 17 games, and his most recent start was a six-inning no-hitter against the Lotte Giants in Jamsil on April 4. He has won his last two games in a row with quality starts. He is 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in two games against Samsung this year, including a 6⅓-inning no-hitter on April 30 in Jamsil. It was Doosan’s only win over Samsung this season.
Saturday and Sunday will be the debut of Doosan’s newly acquired foreign one-two punch.
Keisho Shirakawa, the short-term replacement for Brandon Waddell, will make his debut on the 13th and Jordan Balazovic, the replacement for Raul Alcantara, will make his debut on the 14th.
Shirakawa signed a short-term foreign player contract with Doosan on Tuesday for a total of 4 million yen (approximately $34 million). A former Japanese independent league ace, Shirakawa joined the KBO in May as a short-term foreign substitute for SSG and proved to be competitive with a 2-2 record and 5.09 ERA in five games. After his six-week contract with SSG expired, he extended his stay in Korea for another six weeks with an offer from Doosan, which replaced Brandon on the roster. This is his first time with Samsung Electronics this year.
Balajovic is a “new face” who signed with Doosan on April 4 for a total of $250,000
Balajovic is a “new face” who signed with Doosan on April 4 for a total of $250,000 (approximately 300 million won). He arrived in Korea on Aug. 8 and held his first acclimatization training at Jamsil Stadium, and after completing his visa application in Japan, he was scheduled to make his debut in the final game of the three-game series this weekend.
Balazovic, a 6-foot-2, 196-pound right-hander from Canada, made his major league debut in 2023 after being selected in the fifth round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, posting a 4.44 ERA in 18 games and 24 1/3 innings. In the minor leagues, he is 29-28 with a 4.40 ERA in 138 games (83 starts) with seven saves and one relief appearance, and this season, he went 5-4 with a 5.60 ERA in 24 games (one start) with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints of Minnesota.
According to Doosan, “Balajovic has a powerful fastball with a high breaking point. His fastball reaches a maximum of 156 kilometers and averages 150 kilometers. In addition, he has a variety of pitches, including a splitter, curveball, and slider, that he can put in the strike zone, and he has excellent strikeout ability.”