KIA Tigers left-hander Young-gun Yoon left the mound after failing to complete four innings for the first time since entering the second half of the season.
Yoon made his 13th start of the season against the Doosan Bears of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on Friday, giving up two runs on six hits (one home run) and two walks in 3⅔ innings while striking out three.
Every inning was a struggle. In the top of the first, Yoon gave up an RBI single to Yang Ji after Kim Jae-ho doubled and Yang Suk-hwan singled, then walked Kim Jae-hwan before giving up a nine-pitch walk to Kang Seung-ho. He got Heo Kyung-min to ground out to shortstop to end the inning without further damage, but he had to throw a whopping 32 pitches in the first inning alone.안전놀이터
The second inning didn’t go as smoothly. After getting Park Kye-beom and Cho Soo-hyung to ground out, Yoon Young-chul gave up a single and a walk to Jung Soo-bin and Kim Jae-ho, respectively, to put runners in scoring position. With runners on second and third, Yang Seok-hwan flied out to center field to end the inning, but he was forced to throw 21 pitches in the top of the second.
In the top of the third, there was even a walk. With two outs, Yoon gave up a solo shot to left field off Kang Seung-ho. It was his ninth homer of the season and sixth in the second half.
In the top of the fourth inning, Yoon gave up an infield single to Cho Su-hyun and had to turn the mound over to Kim Jae-yeol after a grounder by Jeong Soo-bin. He didn’t give up many runs, but his pitch count rose to 76 as he kept leaving runners on base.
Before the game against Doosan was canceled due to rain on the 16th, KIA manager Kim Jong-guk said, “The ball was high all around. I think there was a tendency for fastballs and changeups to be high,” he said, adding, “I think that’s unfortunate. I think the number of pitches was higher than expected for the number of innings,” he said.
However, given that this is the first season, the club must also think about the management of the players. As a pitcher who is responsible for the present and future of KIA, fans have high expectations for Yoon.
Kia manager Kim Jong-guk said, “We’re thinking of turning him into a Friday starter. I’m thinking of pitching once a week, and since there are postponed games, I’ll probably pitch three or four times in the future.” “I want him to clear his mind and throw comfortably. If I don’t get greedy, I think I’ll be able to throw better,” and shared how he plans to utilize Yoon Young-chul in the future.