"Bullen Collapse ERA 4.47 → 7.14 Surging "Batter skills improvement, ball ball ball pitchers cannot win.""

*This content was translated by AI.

At the beginning of the KBO League in the 2026 season, each team is struggling with mound anxiety. While the "tago-thrower" phenomenon is clear overall, the difficulties of relief pitchers are particularly noticeable rather than starters.

As of the 2nd, the league's overall ERA (ERA) is 5.72, which is 1.41 higher than 4.31 last season. The starter rose slightly from 4.21 to 4.42, but the bullpen ERA soared as much as 2.67 from 4.47 to 7.14.

Looking at the average earned run over the past five years, the bullpen was slightly higher than the starting pitcher every year. However, LG, Samsung, SSG and NC have relatively stable bullpen ERAs of 3-4 points this season, but the remaining six clubs soared from 6 points to 11 points.

The team that suffers the most from the collapse of the bullpen is the Hanwha Eagles. The ERA of relievers reaches 11.57. In this week's home KT Wiz match, the batters had a fierce chase at the end of the game, but each bullpen pitcher lost a point, giving up all three games.

The Kiwoom Heroes also have a 10-point ERA in relief, and the Lotte Giants also lost to NC for three consecutive games due to bullpen difficulties. Even KT, which leads the game alone with its opening five consecutive wins, has a 9.00 ERA in relief.

It turned out that there was no problem with the official ball this season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 30th of last month that all samples met the acceptance criteria, including the rebound coefficient (0.4034 to 0.4234) as a result of the first occasional test for 2026 games.

A manager of a KBO League club pointed out the overall weakening of the power of domestic pitchers, especially relievers. He said, "Most teams have a lot of young pitchers in their bullpens. The players who need to improve their skills are not doing their part as they play on the first-team stage," he said.

MBC SPORTS+ commentator Kim Sun-woo, a former Major League pitcher, said in a phone call with Star News, "The skills of domestic batters have improved a lot. On the other hand, pitchers are shaking their control and cannot overcome batters with ball speed alone, he said. "If both the starter and the bullpen do not have control, timing fight, and high-quality breaking balls, this trend can continue."

This season, relievers from 10 teams allowed 174 pitches (151 walks, 23 balls that fit the body) in a total of 213 innings, reaching 0.82 per inning. On top of that, key relievers of each team, including Kim Won-joong (Lotte), Jung Hae-young (KIA), and Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha), have not yet recovered their form, raising anxiety over the back door of the mound.

Another reason for the weakening of the bullpen is that Doosan Tamura (13.50 ERA), KT Sugimoto (12.00), Samsung Miyaji (6.75), Lotte Kyoyama (6.75), and Yuto Kiwoom (16.20), who joined the relief pitchers in the Asian quarter, are not showing as much performance as expected.

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*This content was translated by AI.