Up to four left-handed starting pitchers. SSG Landers’ first plan, which dreamed of becoming a ‘Lefty Kingdom’, was shaken. In the end, will the first choice be Kim Kwang-hyun again?
SSG is currently in a state where foreign pitcher Annie Romero is out of power. Romero complained of pain in his left shoulder during a practice match against the Samsung Lions held in Okinawa, Japan on the 6th and was forced out. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation, but the exact timing of his return cannot be guaranteed.
Romero also suffered a shoulder injury while playing in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 2020. For that reason, when SSG recruited Romero, they carefully checked his shoulder while doing cross-checks several times. He decided that there would be no big crowds, but it’s a pity that there was a problem at the end of spring camp.
The start of the regular season is just around the corner. SSG will play the opening game of the regular season against the KIA Tigers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 1st. Since Romero can’t throw the ball yet, joining the opening roster is practically a miss.
Fortunately, there are replacement agents. SSG started this season with a plentiful starting lineup. With Park Jong-hoon and Moon Seung-won, who returned to the first team after completing rehabilitation last year, joined the team, a total of six people, including two foreign pitchers, Kim Gwang-hyun and Oh Won-seok, were the final selection candidates. In addition, Young-Jin Song, ‘Young Gun’, is showing his potential by starting in the demonstration game. Because coach Kim Won-hyung drew the line several times, saying, “I have no intention of starting the 6th,”
In particular, SSG had up to four left-handed starting agents, including Romero, Kirk McCarty, Kim Gwang-hyun, and Oh Won-seok. Manager Kim Won-hyung said, “Left and right are not important. Isn’t there a team with only 5 right-handed starting pitchers? It’s true that the best pitchers go.” is strong Song Young-jin started twice in the demonstration game and recorded 2 scoreless innings and 1 run in 2 innings respectively.
However, it seems highly likely that Kim Gwang-hyun will be the starting pitcher for the opening game at this point. Kim Gwang-hyun, who returned to the team after completing the WBC, will make his first appearance on the 21st in an exhibition game against the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles. He also plans to increase the number of pitches. As long as Kim Gwang-hyun, who started once in the national team evaluation match and the WBC finals, increases the number of pitches and recovers to normal condition, it is not too much to start the opening game itself. In particular, from SSG’s point of view, it is difficult to separate the symbolism of ‘the first starting pitcher for the Incheon home opening game’ and ‘ace’ Gwang-hyun Kim.
It’s a pity that Romero,메이저놀이터 who wanted to play the first starter like Wilmer Font last year, is missing due to injury, but the first thing is to hope that he will recover as fully as possible and come back. In the end, the first choice has to be Kim Gwang-hyun.