“I didn’t realize I was No. 1 (laughs).”
The KT Wiz’s best bullpen acquisition this season has been the upgrade of second-year right-hander Park Young-hyun, 20. The 2022 first-round pick has been a stalwart in the bullpen this year, posting a 3-3 record, three saves, 26 holds and a respectable 3.02 ERA in 56 games through 23 days.
Park has been instrumental in KT’s late-season surge with a variety of pitches, including a fastball in the mid-to-high 140s, a sharp slider, and a changeup. When the team needs to preserve a win, he, along with Son Dong-hyun and Kim Jae-yoon, puts up an “iron wall” on the mound late in games.
Young-hyun Park’s 26 holds are the most in this category this season. The second-place group, SSG Landers’ Noh Kyung-eun, has a significant gap to Lotte Giants’ Koo Seung-min’s 19, and is closing in on 30. KT head coach Lee Kang-cheol also expressed his surprise at Park’s hold streak. “I didn’t realize that (Park) was the hold leader until recently. I thought Noh Kyung-eun was still in first place because she kept coming out to play a lot,” Lee said.메이저놀이터
Lee also praised closer Kim Jae-yoon, who has been quietly accumulating saves. He also lamented the fact that he doesn’t have many saves (43 games – 22 saves – ERA 1.29) compared to his performance. “Unlike holds, saves are not easy to accumulate. You have to win the game and finish it off. You also have to create save situations, and this year, Jae-yoon Kim hasn’t been able to create many save situations,” Lee said.