When will the Doosan Bears’ new foreign pitcher, Brandon Waddell, join the team, a question Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop is anxiously awaiting.
Doosan completed a three-game home sweep of the Hanwha Eagles in a midweek series. Despite the momentum, Doosan dropped the weekend series at home to the KIA Tigers, dropping the first two games of the series early.
The back-to-back games highlighted the struggles of the homegrown starting lineup that had served them well through May. First, Kim Dong-ju took the loss in Game 9, giving up four runs on five hits and five walks with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings on 91 pitches.
In his first full season as a rookie, Kim’s momentum from April began to fade in May. Pitch after pitch after pitch. Manager Lee Seung-yeop wanted to give Kim a break in May, but the long-term injury to foreign pitcher Dylan Pyle made it difficult.
On June 10, Lee removed Kim from the first team roster to give him time to recharge. Kim is coming off his first break of the season after appearing in 10 games (47.1 innings) this season, posting a 2-4 record with a 3.23 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 13 walks, and a 1.35 WHIP. 토토사이트
Manager Lee Seung-yeop met with reporters ahead of the game on Tuesday and said, “Kim Dong-ju looks tired. He’s been so good so far, but I think we need to take him out of the starting rotation for a turn or so. When I look at his ball movement, I feel like he’s a little tired. It’s her first full season and she needs a break. In some ways, the break was overdue for the team. It’s time to take care of it. If there are no problems, he will be back in time for the 22nd.”
Like Kim Dong-joo, Choi Seung-yong has been shaky in his recent starts. In his start on the 10th, Choi took the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on 78 pitches in 4.1 innings with eight hits, two walks, and one wild pitch.
In the end, both Kim Dong-joo and Choi Seung-yong looked strong in their first full-time starts of the season. With Dillon out for so long, the Doosan bench was not in a position to manage the two. The emergence of veteran left-hander Jang Won-jun, who was on the verge of retirement, as an alternative is a miracle, but also a last resort. If Kwak Bin and Choi Won-jun can’t regain their pitching form, the Doosan starting staff could be in even more trouble.