The beginning of kt’s season was literally depressing. Injuries continued throughout the team. That was all key. The other lineup drifted without ever forming a complete lineup until June. On the mound, key resources such as So Joon Joon, Sovereign Kwon, and Min Soo Kim were sick and could not be seen.
By June 2, kt recorded 16 wins, 30 losses and 2 draws (.348), falling to the bottom of the league. Before the season, the title of ‘strong third-final candidate’ was colorless. Around that point, kt threw two winning numbers in a row. In a trade with Lotte, Lee Ho-yeon (28) was recruited to reinforce the infield, and the sluggish Bo Sul-seo was kicked out early, and William Cuevas (33) was re-recruited to replace a foreign card.먹튀검증
They fell to the bottom and still had a lot of injuries. Building a full force seemed far off. It is also true that in such a situation, even the two winning numbers seemed insufficient to drastically change something. However, kt coach Lee Kang-cheol had a secret expectation at the time. It wasn’t just a power plus. It was an expectation that a certain player or an opportunity could stimulate and awaken the team and change the atmosphere. I mentioned one player empirically, it was Kim Sang-hyun of the 2009 KIA.
KIA was evaluated for building a good power in 2009, but it did not go out from the beginning of the season. Based on the odds calculation at the time, the odds were less than 50% until May 28th. However, as Kim Sang-hyun, who was recruited through a trade in April, made an outstanding performance, the overall waters of the team began to open. In the end, KIA took the lead with Kim Sang-hyun’s outstanding performance, and won the regular season championship by avoiding SK’s fierce chase at the end of the season, and finally ran to the Korean Series championship.
A player’s recruitment and great success created a huge momentum for the team, and it remains a good example of proving that 1+1 is not simply 2 in baseball. Director Lee, who watched this situation as a leader at the time, expected that the energy of Cuevas, who had played for a long time in the team, would do its part.
On June 13, when Cuevas’ recruitment was confirmed, coach Lee said, “If Cuevas comes and gets better, I think the team can rebound. There is also such an expectation that it will go in that direction,” he said. “As an example, there is KIA in 2009. In May, I was looking at the bottom for a while, and then I traded Kim Sang-hyun, and from there Choi Hee-seop also came back to life. From then on (the team) hit It was like that until the end,” he recalled.
It is impossible to compare Cuevas, Lee Ho-yeon, and Kim Sang-hyun on the same line, but in the end, as coach Lee said, they changed the team atmosphere and provided the driving force for the team to go in a good direction. kt, which once had a win-loss margin of -14, has been on a steep rise since June, and as of August 1, it has risen to a position where it can aim for third place with 45 wins, 43 losses and 2 draws (.511). The season management has become more relaxed.
Coach Lee diagnoses that the atmosphere of the team has changed little by little as Lee Ho-yeon played an active part, and that Cuevas gained momentum as he won the game. Lee Ho-yeon recorded a batting average of 0.305 in 39 games this year. Cuevas’ performance in seven games this season is 3 wins, undefeated, and an average ERA of 4.58. Although the records of the two players cannot be regarded as special, it is Lee’s idea that there was a remarkable part in the elements. The small difference created by the two players eventually changed the atmosphere of the team and changed the results.
Coach Lee said ahead of the match against SSG in Suwon on the 1st, “There was a game where the team won even if Cuevas didn’t score and the player didn’t win. Then the atmosphere of the team improved.” In fact, kt won 5 wins and 2 losses in 7 games in which Cuevas started. It was a disgrace that could not be guaranteed if he had pushed the spell. Next, coach Lee thanked the player and the team, saying, “Hoyeon came again and played a little, and the atmosphere went up there as well. He played a very good role at the front desk.”
Now, kt, which has risen above the 50% win rate, faces another test bed. Director Lee said, “The tension (when it was negative) and the tension now are another tension. When I was below, they said, ‘Let’s go one by one,’ but now I don’t think it’s easy to fall here. I’m trying to protect each one.” The grade was aimed at 50%. Between composure and tension, attention is focusing on whether kt will be able to keep the current water flow to the end.