"KIA will definitely come up." The season that veteran Kim Kyung-moon sees... It's going to be an all-time ranking battle
"KIA will definitely come up." The season that veteran Kim Kyung-moon sees... It's going to be an all-time ranking battle
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Kia, the unified Korean team that won the championship last year, has not been performing well early this season. Adding to the numerous injured and players who performed well last year have faltered, the team as a whole is losing strength. In fact, Kia has achieved the most consecutive wins this year.
As a result, Kia has only won 14 games and lost 17 games (.452) in its first 31 games of this season. It is not easy to achieve a 50% win rate. In fact, Kia has never achieved a 50% win rate since it recorded two wins and two losses in its fourth game of this season. The situation is completely different from what all experts selected this year's KIA as the favorite and rated it as an absolute "first place."
However, the prevailing view is that Kia will not remain in this ranking or winning rate. As the team was reeling from a number of unfavorable factors in the early days of this season, it is expected that the team that will eventually advance will advance. Most KBO league leaders agree. Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon also casually emphasized that "KIA will definitely advance" ahead of the match against KIA in Gwangju on Thursday (cancellation of rain). He is confident that Kia will someday be a team that will seek to rank among the top ranks. Such calculation is based on most teams' plans.
Kia is having a hard time in both pitching and batting this year. As of Tuesday, Kia ranks seventh in the league with an ERA of 4.68 in this season. It also ranks sixth in the league with a batting average of 0.247. Both the team's ERA (league average of 4.17) and the team's batting average (league average of 0.254) have been below average in the league. The team has displayed unrivaled balance of pitching and batting last year. However, since the team's capacity loss is not serious and foreign players were not chosen incorrectly, it is expected that Kia will achieve an average in the end. If there is a process to find an actual average, mid- and second half of the season could be even scarier.
However, these are just general predictions. If the general expectations were right, KIA would not be in this grade right now. Key hitters such as Park Chan-ho, Kim Sun-bin and Kim Do-young returned after recovering from injuries, but their performance has yet to recover. The mound also has wide variations. Players who are good continue to do well, while those who are not are still struggling. Eventually, water will come in at some point, but some are cautiously raising their heads against the prospect that the power of rowing will not be stronger than last year.
However, it is tricky for the opposing team to have one team to play since Kia is in the lower part of the league. Manager Kim also emphasizes that this is why the season ranking does not have much meaning yet. "This is probably where they are gathered," Kim said, drawing a picture with his hands. It is the middle and upper half of the league table.
In fact, analysts say there is a chance for an all-time ranking battle this year. With LG having been running so fast in the early days of this season slowing down, the gap between the top-ranked teams and the second-ranked teams has narrowed significantly. As of Thursday, the gap between the top-ranked LG and the second-ranked Hanwha Eagles is one game, the gap between the third-ranked Lotte and the third-ranked Lotte is 1.5 games, and the gap between the fourth-ranked Samsung and the fourth-ranked Samsung is two games. The gap between the third-ranked Lotte and the sixth-ranked Kia Tigers is 3.5 games, and the gap between the seventh-ranked Kia Tigers is 4.5 games, which is not a big deal yet. This year, the number of cases in which a single team unilaterally controls the series has decreased significantly. As such, it is a mixed race.
The management of the injured has become more important. Muscle injuries are also hitting the league this year. Coach Kim predicted, "The team that is gathered in the center and is losing strength toward the end will go up later." Everyone expects that, but in the end, it is important to keep it from losing strength. Coach Kim said, "One game is important now, but in the end, key players should not be hurt later," and stressed, "We should not create an atmosphere of losing games."
KIA should also endure its long losing streak to the maximum extent possible and wait until its full strength is back on track. Kia Tigers pitcher Kwak Do-gyu was confirmed to be out for this season due to an elbow injury, but it could be reluctant to return to the team in June after elbow surgery. Analysts say that Na Sung-bum, who is out due to calf injury, will also be able to join the team by then. Kia should hang on to May as long as it can. If it can make the margin of victory or defeat zero in May, it can gain momentum from June.
After all, the most important thing is Lee Bum-ho's ability to manage the season. Lee continued to be at the top of the list last year. On the other hand, he has no experience chasing the top ranks from the bottom. If the team operates in a hurry, it has no choice but to draw and use the power that the team has, which would pose a burden after the middle of the season. 먹튀검증 Therefore, it seems from various perspectives that Lee is trying to patiently refrain from excessive management. In the meantime, efforts to find shortcomings and make up for them, while making changes to the atmosphere will likely continue. KIA and Lee were put to an important test in May.