“The first and second innings are key.”
Samsung manager Park Jin-man is hoping for a good performance from 2020 first-round pick Hwang Dong-jae (22) in his first start of the season.
“It’s my first game, so the first and second innings will be the hardest for me as I’ve been up here for a long time,” Park said before the eighth game of the season against NC at Lions Park in Daegu. If I can get through the difficult innings, I think I’ll be able to throw some pitches because I’ll have some stability. Pitchers who come up after a long time always have trouble in the first inning, so I hope I can get through that process well.”
As for the pitch count, Park hoped that he would be able to throw at least 100 pitches until the sixth inning, as he came up to prepare for the start. “There is an expectation that he will do it once in a while,” Park said. “He is competitive and bold on the mound. He throws two-seamers and messy balls. I think he’ll be fine if he has a pitcher who can throw his own ball in the first and second innings, but we’ll have to wait and see.”안전놀이터
Hwang Dong-jae gained first-team experience last year, pitching 66⅓ innings in 16 games. He went 1-3 with a 7.06 ERA.
He pitched well in April and May, raising expectations, but he slumped a bit in June and lost a lot of his ERA. He returned to form in July and raised expectations.
In five Futures League games this season, he went 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA. He has gone six innings in his last two games. Buchanan was called up on the 7th due to soreness in the back of his hand. It will be interesting to see if he can save the day with a surprise performance.
Kim Jae-sung, who played together in the Futures League, will wear the catcher’s mask.
Samsung’s line-up was Kim Ji-chan (2B), Pirela (R), Kim Dong-yeop (L), Kang Min-ho (G), Oh Jae-il (1B), Kim Jae-sung (F), Lee Jae-hyun (Y), Yoon Jung-bin (C), and Kim Jae-sang (3B). It will be interesting to see if they can bounce back from their 0-4 loss the day before, when they were unable to get a single run despite hitting nine hits. NC will start with left-hander Choi Sung-young.