Why Kim Do-hyun will start Friday’s game?
Injuries and rain complicated the KIA Tigers’ starting rotation. Here’s how manager Lee Bum-ho organized it.
Lee’s head hurts just thinking about the injuries to his starting rotation. With Lee Yi-ri out early due to his decision to have elbow surgery, left-hander Yoon Young-chul, who had been so good with seven wins, is also out with a microfracture in his spine.
Hwang Dong-ha was able to fill the void left by Lee’s absence to a certain extent, but now Yoon has another headache.
Lee turned to Kim Do-hyun, who had been playing in the bullpen, as a replacement. Kim joined the Hanwha Eagles in 2019 and has two years of starting experience under his belt. He came to KIA in a trade and served as a reliever. He pitched all 24 games this season out of the bullpen.
“Kim Do-hyun will start the game on Friday, the 19th,” Lee said before the game against the Samsung Lions on the 18th.
Kia will play a three-game series against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon over the weekend.
Lee had plenty of options. Ace Nail was rested on the 16th due to rain at Samsung Electronics. Hwang Dong-ha, the fifth starter, had his last start on the 12th. 메이저사이트 Lee decided to go with Kim Do-hyun, Nail, and Hwang Dong-ha in the starting order.
“I thought that we should use Kim Do-hyun when we have strength in our bullpen,” Lee said. Lee sees Kim’s pitch count at around 60 pitches. The bullpen needs to be strong. He’d rather have the bullpen go all out in the first game of a three-game series than at the end of the week, when they’ll be weak. Then, the next day, on the 20th, the ace nail will have a chance to go the distance. If Kim Do-hyun and Hwang Dong-ha are stuck together, the bullpen could be depleted for two consecutive days.
“I’m thinking about four innings for Do-hyun Kim, but I’m also thinking about 60-plus pitches if he can get through the innings. If it’s tight, we’ll decide to make a substitution based on the situation,” Lee added.
Rainy season. You never know when it will rain.
“If it rains one day in Daejeon, I will use Hwang Dong-ha in the last game of the NC Dinos’ three-game series next week,” Lee said. We are planning to play Yang Hyun-jong, Aldred, and Hwang Dong-ha in the order of the NC three-game series.”
Lee faced a rain delay against Samsung Electronics on the 18th. After pitching three innings, starter Aldred’s shoulder cooled down and he was unable to throw. Lee kept his bullpen pitchers short and sweet. In the fourth inning, with plenty of time left in the game, he took a one-out walk against Kim Young-woong. That way, the bullpen could pitch on the 19th against Hanwha, but he saved his best pitchers, Jang Hyun-sik and Jeon Sang-hyun. That’s a lot of precision for a rookie manager. That’s how he secured the win over Samsung Electronics and prepared for Hanwha.
