Chapter 579 – Episode 571. Korea’s Best Pitcher. (4)
“Korean series. Honestly, it’s really hard for me to predict. First, let’s compare directors. Let’s compare coach Lee Soo-hyun, who won two consecutive Korean Series titles, and coach Moon Ki-taek, a matchmaker who advanced to the Korean Series for six consecutive years during his time at UG, winning twice, finishing as runner-up four times, and challenging for his seventh Korean Series.
Actually, Director Lee Soo-hyun is not the type of strategist. Pitcher management is given to the pitching coach, and hitting direction is given to the hitting coach. And it is famous that the lineup is discussed with Director Yoon once a week. But he also managed injuries well and won the regular season title for the second year in a row.
Winning the championship two years in a row means that the players are excellent in terms of motivation and mental management. Plus, we won 100 games this season, so there’s nothing to say.
Of course, he is not a director who deserves applause. As a former legendary hitter, his pinch-hit timing is amazing.
Now, this is director Moon Ki-taek. Director Moon Ki-taek, do you need any explanation? Just from that base-running play in Game 3, you can tell what kind of coach Moon Ki-taek is. He’s a real winner.
Now for the pitcher comparison. First, let’s compare the starters. The starting pitcher is Hwasa, and the bullpens seem to be similar for both teams. Overall, it seems that Hwasan’s selection of Seonghyun, Tinie, Chae Jaehyun, and Oz is stronger. Well, AT also, even if all of its starting pitchers have more than 10 wins and Cronks becomes a 20-win pitcher, the volcano looks ahead overall.
The problem is typing, right? In terms of batting, wouldn’t the AT Thunders with Ji Maeng-ho be strong? . That’s what I think. Ji Maeng-ho’s WAR this season is 19.6, and even if Choi Si-woo, Lee Yong-ki, and McD, who recorded the highest WAR in Hwasan, are combined, Ji Maeng-ho’s WAR is not enough.
There are four teams with lower batting WAR than Ji Maeng-ho. He’s a type that really makes no sense. Ji Maeng-ho… However, Ji Maeng-ho is not a player who becomes weak in the fall. As for the batting, AT’s landslide victory. I think it can be explained like this.
…
AT, who received about 20 days of rest, and Hwasan Falcons, who gave key players a break while preparing for fall baseball from the end of the season. The physical aspect seems similar. It seems like Hwasan is ahead in terms of game sense.
So, my choice is that the AT Thunders will announce the beginning of their dynasty by winning their 3rd consecutive Korean Series.
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As the saying goes, you have to get the first button right, so the first start is important no matter what you do. And the first game to start the series was even more important. Even in the Major League, which has a history of over 100 years, the team that won Game 1 of the World Series won the championship with a probability of over 60%.
The coaches of the two teams facing each other in the Korean Series also knew this fact, so it was natural to announce the team’s ace as the starter in order to win the first game.
The pitchers announced as starters by the two teams are Seonghyeon and Crongs. These were the same pitchers who had been debating who was the best pitcher in the league all season long.
In the 2025 season, due to the expanded strike zone, the overall pitchers’ records improved considerably, showing the pattern of two-goal hitters, but among them, the pitchers who showed overwhelming performance were Seonghyeon and Crongs.
Of course, there were other prominent pitchers like Jang Woo-joo, Kim Won-ho, and Trey lined up after that, but everyone acknowledged that the best Korean pitcher this season was Seong-hyeon and the best foreign pitcher was Krongs, and the two players performed well enough to be selected as starters in Game 1 of the Korean Series. I showed it.
In the regular season, Seonghyun recorded 18 wins, 3 losses, and only 46 runs in 202.4 innings, with an ERA of 2.05 and 169 strikeouts, ranking second in wins, first in innings, and second in ERA. He showed his unique game management ability and showed a phenomenal inning pitching ability, allowing him to play 7.5 innings per game.
And the Crongs recorded 20 wins, 4 losses, and only 42 runs in 193.1 innings, with a 1.96 ERA and 198 strikeouts, ranking first in wins, third in innings, first in ERA, and second in strikeouts, which is a disagreement in terms of classic statistics. He was the best pitcher in the league. In addition, his performance in the game was so good that some said he did not receive much help from the batting line.
The two pitchers who recorded such overwhelming records were fighting for the direction of the Golden Glove, and those who sided with Crongs said that he ranked first in two of the important categories (multiple wins and earned run average), the symbol of an ace. He made that claim based on the fact that he recorded 20 wins.
On the other hand, those who support Seonghyun argue that wins are a meaningless stat when evaluating a pitcher’s ability, that the Crongs used Jamsil as their home, and that they did not face the batting lineup of the AT Thunders, the strongest batting lineup in the league. The reason was that WAR, the most common saber stat, was higher in Sunghyun.
Both claims were valid, so now that the whereabouts of the Golden Glove are unknown, the two pitchers faced each other in Game 1 of the Korean Series, the most important stage, so the attention of reporters with voting rights and fans was focused on the two pitchers. In a way, it was natural for it to happen.
Since the Golden Glove was an award given only during the regular season, postseason performance is meaningless. However, both players recorded performance that would not be surprising no matter who received the Golden Glove, so the pitcher who won this matchup had a high probability of receiving the Golden Glove. .
“So who do you think will receive Reporter Kim?”
“Me? I think Seonghyun will receive it. There is a Korean premium, and Seonghyun’s name value is also there. In addition, you defeated Kim Won-ho in the playoffs. “Silla lost the first game and was completely defeated.”
“Still, there is symbolism in 20 wins, and it is a double win, so wouldn’t the Crongs have an advantage? “I also want to vote for Seonghyun, though.”
“Well, really, it’s not strange no matter who gets it. So, isn’t this game important?”
“… That’s right. It’s a good cause.”
“But honestly, if you look at it that way, it’s at a disadvantage to Seonghyun.”
“Why is that?”
The senior reporter who had said that Crongs was at an advantage was also secretly hoping that Sung-hyun would win the Golden Gloves, so he unknowingly responded bluntly to reporter Kim’s statement that Sung-hyun was at a disadvantage.
“The AT batting lineup doesn’t make sense. First, Ji Maeng-ho’s grades are really top-notch. Haha, even if you are a saint, wouldn’t it be a little difficult?”
As reporter Kim said, AT’s starting lineup was showing overwhelming performance, recording an OPS of 0.892 even in two-goal hitters. In particular, Maeng-ho Ji was proving that he was at another level by recording an OPS of 1.769.
“It’s pitiful to think that way.”
In response to reporter Kim’s words, the senior reporter turned on his cell phone and checked how different the AT Thunders’ batting lineup was from the Hwasan Falcons’ batting lineup.
Volcano Falcons
CF Kim Joo-yeop 0.317/0.371/0.407/0.778 173H (hits) 6HR 21SB
2B Lee Won-hyung 0.264/0.349/0.393/0.742 111H 10HR 7SB
1B Choi Si-woo 0.296/0.409/0.567/0.976 143H 38HR 6SB
C usage 0.319/0.418/0.532/0.950 136H 22HR 0SB
RF MagD 0.284/0.337/0.460/0.797 135H 18HR 22SB
DH Yoon Joong-il 0.305/0.350/0.443/0.793 132H 13HR 3SB
LF Kim Hyung-geon 0.286/0.364/0.426/0.790 102H 9HR 13SB
SS Kim Seung-sik 0.279/0.319/0.340/0.659 110H 3HR 36SB
3B Han Seong-jin 0.260/0.317/0371/0.688 94H 8HR 2SB
AT Thunders
3B Kim Su-ho 0.294/0.393/0.424/0.817 168H 15HR 4SB
LF weather week 0.311/0.388/0.469/0.857 175H 17HR 4SB
DH Williams 0.321/0.395/0.502/0.896 167H 19HR 15SB
2B Ji Maeng-ho 0.405/0.624/1.145/1.769 148H 75HR 75SB
1B Choi Jin-cheol 0.267/0.351/0.438/0.788 138H 22HR 0SB
SS Yoon Seong-tae 0.293/0.350/0.475/0.825 146H 20HR 20SB
C Kim Hyun-seong 0.264/0.337/0.368/0.705 99H 7HR 0SB
RF Baek Jeong-jin 0.291/0.368/0.433/0.801 121H 12HR 8SB
CF Jeong Hwi-cheol 0.306/0.381/0.348/0.729 116H 0HR 33SB
Excluding the center fielder, catcher, and first baseman, it was clearly a landslide victory for the AT batting lineup, and Ji Maeng-ho’s performance in the middle was so overwhelming. If you exclude the number of home runs hit by Choi Si-woo and Lee Yong-gi, even if you add up the number of home runs by Hwasan hitters, there are fewer home runs than Ji Maeng-ho.
I knew it, but my grades were worthy of being called a real ‘devil’… He was the type of guy who had no idea how to deal with a batter like this if he were a pitcher.
“Right? It’s a two-goal game, but if you look at the AT batting lineup, it looks like a two-goal pitcher. Not to mention Ji Maeng-ho, Kim Su-ho, Ki Ki-joo, and Williams. Plus Seongtae Yoon of 20-20. Even if Choi Jin-cheol had performed like last year, he probably would have won 110 games. Also, Woo Kwan-hyung came out occasionally and hit 30%… Honestly, it’s too harsh on Seonghyun.”
“… It’s definitely a bit harsh on Seonghyun.”
“Still, it’s Seonghyeon, what can we do for you? Because it is Seonghyeon and no one else.”
As reporter Kim said, the Hwasan pitcher was a ‘sage’, so there was a little bit of anticipation, but honestly, it didn’t seem easy to get good results against this batting lineup.
“The volcano hitters might need some help… That way, even if Seonghyun is chosen, there will be less criticism. Anyway, I heard they hired you to become a reporter, but they only swear at you.”
“Hey, this isn’t the kind of performance that can be called premium for Koreans. It’s just Park Bing. WAR is also high.”
“Still, it’s better to be neat, right? 1 point for 20 wins… And AT fans must be so polarizing.”
“Well, that’s right. Uh, I guess the game is about to start. The first pitch is over.”
The game began with the two reporters preparing to record.
[… Crongs ends the inning with a three-way strike!]
[Hey, maybe it’s because I came from rest, but Crong’s performance is perfect, isn’t it?]
Contrary to the wishes of the two reporters cheering for Seong-Hyun, the Krongs finished the top of the first inning with a three-way throw, marking the beginning of Game 1 of the Korean Series that will determine who the best pitcher in the 2025 KBA League will be.