Is this a must-win group?

The Kia Tigers bullpen has a 1.91 ERA in the 2024 baseball exhibition season. That’s not even close to the top. Samsung is lower at 1.65 and Lotte is lower at 1.90. Of course, they’ve only played six games each, so it’s hard to tell. Kia ranked second in bullpen ERA (3.85) last year. There are expectations that they will carry that strength into this year.

This year, they’re considered to be even stronger. Some say it’s hard to tell the difference between a chase group and a must-win group. The bullpen is categorized into a chase group, which is used in a losing situation, and a must-win group, which is used to protect the lead. There’s also the long man, who waits behind the starter. Nowadays, bullpen pitchers have improved to the point where this distinction is irrelevant.

Kia’s bullpen pitchers last year were Lim Ki-young and Choi Ji-min, who were consistently effective on a full-time basis. 안전놀이터 Lim was an on-call pitcher who pitched a whopping 82 innings in the bullpen. He was responsible for up to three innings and one inning. Choi Ji-min kept the bullpen alive with her left-handed closing skills. The rest of the pitching staff was up and down.

Closers Jung Hae-young and Jeon Sang-hyun struggled in the opening two months.

Jeon has been the closer since June, and Jung has returned to form after making adjustments. Since September, he’s been solid with 11 saves and a 1.80 ERA. Jang Hyun-sik, the 2021 Hold King, has seen his power halved, and Lee Joon-young has faltered since the summer, but still has the second-best bullpen ERA.

This year, closer Jeong Hae-young has definitely regained his form. Lee Bum-ho is worried about his overpowering fastball. He throws up to 148 mph and averages around 145 mph. His arm swing has gotten faster, making it harder for hitters to time his pitches, and his rotation has gotten stronger, making it harder to hit him. Jeon’s second half ERA of 1.45 is considered stronger than his first half. Jang Hyun-sik has also regained his command of his fastball and breaking ball.

Most notably, veterans Park Joon-pyo on the side arm, Yoon Jung-hyun on the side arm, and Kwak Do-gyu on the left arm have improved dramatically. Park Jun-pyo, a former closer, has shown signs of life, pitching well in both games (three innings) and two exhibition games (two innings) of spring training. Yoon Joong-hyun, who has mostly been used as a backup out of the bullpen, also threw a scoreless inning in two spring training games (3 innings) and two exhibition games (2 innings). He has sharpened the angle of his changeup and improved the velocity of his fastball.

Second-year left-hander Kwak Do-gyu also threw two scoreless innings in the exhibition game.

He was scoreless in the first two games of the camp, but in the exhibition game, he showed his trademark aggressive delivery and outside changeup that left-handed hitters struggle to hit. Choi has shown promise as a lefty killer, following in the footsteps of Ji-min Choi and Joon-young Lee. His hard work paid off last December at the Seattle Drive-In Center.

Based on his current performance in the exhibition games, 바카라사이트 추천 there is no catch-up or must-win group. Furthermore, Kia may not be able to rely on their starters for many innings in the early going. That’s why they need a bullpen that can go multiple innings. Park Joon-pyo and Yoon Joong-hyun, along with Lim Ki-young, could be the backups. They have the strength of a five-man starting rotation and the depth of a bullpen.