KIA Yang Hyeon-jong returning, was a break good?
- allforyouclick
- 0
- on Aug 24, 2023
KIA Tigers left-handed ace Yang Hyeon-jong (35) returns after a short break.
Yang Hyeon-jong is scheduled to start the match against the Hanwha Eagles at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 26th.
Yang Hyeon-jong, who was excluded from the first team entry on the 16th after continuing his sluggish performance, will be on the mound 11 days after the Gwangju Kiwoom Heroes match on the 15th.
Yang Hyeon-jong continued stable pitching until May.
He went 1-0 with an ERA of 2.63 in 4 games in April, and in May, he made 4 starts with 2 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 2.00. In the May 9 match against SSG Landers left-hander ace Kim Kwang-hyun, he struck out 10 in 8 innings and delivered a clean pitch.
However, it has been shaken since June.
He collapsed with 9 runs in 2 innings against the Sajik Lotte Giants on the 2nd, which was his first appearance in June. It was the most goals scored in an individual game. In the next appearance, against SSG in Gwangju on June 7, he only allowed 7 runs in 4⅓ innings.
Yang Hyeon-jong, who seemed to find some stability after that, fell into a deeper slump in the second half.
Yang Hyeon-jong stayed with 2 losses and an average ERA of 7.71 without a win in the 3 games in the second half. His batting average reached 0.318 in the second half.
On July 27, his first appearance in the second half, against the Changwon NC Dinos, Yang Hyeon-jong, who lost 4 runs in 5⅔ innings and became a losing pitcher, also gave up 3 runs in 5 innings against the Pohang Samsung Lions on the 2nd of this month.메이저놀이터
In the game against the LG Twins on the 8th, he gave up 9 hits and 1 walk until the 2nd inning, giving up 8 runs (6 earned runs). He gave up 5 runs in the 1st inning and 3 runs in the 2nd inning as he showed a lack of pitching. From Yang Hyeon-jong’s point of view, it was fortunate that the game was declared a no game due to rain.
Yang Hyeon-jong tried to rebound against Kiwoom, the lowest on the 15th, but was sluggish with 7 runs in 5⅔ innings and suffered a yoke of defeat.
After the KT Wiz game in Gwangju on June 24 (6 innings, 1 run), Yang Hyeon-jong’s victory clock, which failed to write a quality start (6 innings or more and 3 earned runs or less), stopped after the Incheon SSG game on July 6.
Yang Hyeon-jong, who won 162 of his 164 individual career wins as a starter, could tie Song Jin-woo’s record for most starters (163 wins) in the KBO League with one more starter win, but he kept delaying it.
The KIA judged that Yang Hyeon-jong’s sluggishness was the aftermath of a decrease in physical strength, and on the 16th, he was excluded from the first-team entry and given a break. It was the first time in about four years since September 2019 that Yang Hyeon-jong was missing from the first team entry.
Yang Hyeon-jong was immersed in readjustment in Hampyeong, the field of the 2nd division, without accompanying the 1st division, and after completing 10 days, he will start a return match.
Yang Hyeon-jong did not look bad against Hanwha this year. On April 11, in the first appearance of the season, he faced Hanwha, and he did his part with 7 hits (1 home run), 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and 3 runs in 7 innings.
The 6th place KIA is only 1.5 games away from the 5th place Doosan Bears, and it is only 2 games behind the 4th place NC, so it can aim for a postseason advance.
In order for KIA to survive the fierce ranking competition, Yang Hyeon-jong’s revival is absolutely necessary.
While Thomas Panoni, who joined the team as a substitute pitcher, is continuing his good pitching, if Yang Hyeon-jong regains the same form as at the beginning of the season, he can build a strong one-two punch and accelerate his entry into the round of 5.