“I was surprised” Park Jong-hoon-Lee Jae-won, the manager also admired the stealing of two consecutive bases in one inning

 “(Lee) Jae-won, how many years has it been since?”

SSG coach Kim Won-hyeong laughed and applauded catcher Lee Jae-won passing by the dugout ahead of the game against Hanwha in Daejeon on the 8th. It was a compliment for succeeding in stopping stealing twice in the third inning against Hanwha the previous day (7th). 

Lee Jae-won stopped Hanwha Noh Soo-gwang and Jung Eun-won from stealing second base twice in a row in the third inning. He was a more meaningful stop for stealing because his pitcher was Park Jong-hoon. Due to the nature of underhand pitchers who have to bend their knees when pitching, the slide step is inevitably slow.안전놀이터

Park Jong-hoon has the most stolen bases with 184 among all 45 pitchers in the KBO League who have thrown more than 500 innings since 2015, when he became the main axis of the first team. There is also a big gap with Kim Min-woo (Hanwha, 108) in second place. The number of stolen bases was 61, and the stealing rate was only 24.9%. 

However, against Hanwha that day, the Park Jong-hoon-Lee Jae-won battery thoroughly prepared, and led the atmosphere of the game by succeeding in stopping stealing twice in a row in one inning. Park Jong-hoon decorated his first appearance of the season with a quality start with 3 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts and no runs in 6 innings. 

Coach Won-hyung Kim also met with reporters ahead of the match against Hanwha on the 8th and said, “I was surprised” about the two consecutive base steals, and “It was that much effort. Jonghoon practiced to overcome his handicap. Yesterday (7th), the slide step was fast, and the check was good. Jaewon also caught two with a quick throw. It is a big factor that Jong-hoon was able to throw 6 innings,” he praised. 

For SSG, foreign pitcher Annie Romero, who was expected to be the first starter, left due to a shoulder injury at the end of spring camp, but domestic pitchers such as Kim Kwang-hyun, Oh Won-seok, Moon Seung-won, and Park Jong-hoon successfully made their first start. Kim Gwang-hyun won the opening game with 5 innings and 1 run, and Oh Won-seok also won a complete victory against Munhak Lotte on the 4th against Kangwoo Cold with 7 innings and 1 run. Moon Seung-won pitched well with 1 run in 3 innings, although the match against Lotte on the 6th was a no-game in rainy weather. 

Manager Kim Won-hyung said, “If I win today, I think Kirk McCarty will be able to throw a little more comfortably tomorrow. If the team does well overall, McCarty will be able to ease the burden.” McCarty suffered a loss against Munhak KIA on the 2nd, which was his first appearance, with 10 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, 1 strikeout and 8 runs in 3⅓ innings. /waw@osen.co.kr