'Weekly Starting Pitcher Innings Leader' Bullpen Troubles for NC, Regrets 'National Team Left-Hander' as 'Kim Young-gyu' Void Widens → 'Collective Closer' System for Now

*This content was translated by AI.

Despite the outstanding inning consumption by its starting pitching staff, NC Dinos is struggling with bullpen instability, acutely feeling the void left by injured national team left-hander Kim Young-gyu (26) and the slump of closer Ryu Jin-wook (30). The team has decided to fill the ninth inning with a 'collective closer' system for the foreseeable future. To revitalize the team atmosphere, the roster was significantly adjusted, making a decisive move.

NC Dinos manager Lee Ho-jun (50) met with on-site reporters on the 28th ahead of the Kiwoom Heroes game at Changwon NC Park, openly sharing his candid thoughts on the current state of the shaky bullpen and future bullpen deployment plans.

Currently, NC is leading the league in weekly starting pitcher innings consumed, with the starting rotation holding strong. In the previous five games, the starting pitchers combined for 30 innings, averaging six innings per game. However, the bullpen, responsible for the latter half of games, has collapsed, leading to a persistent trend of heartbreaking come-from-behind losses in the late stages. During this period, the team has recorded only two wins and three losses, failing to accumulate victories.

Regarding this, manager Lee Ho-jun stated, "The starting pitchers have been able to pitch long innings, making the overall game management easier, but games keep slipping away in the later stages, and we keep getting come-from-behind losses."

The manager identified the core reasons for the bullpen's brutal history as the injury departure of Kim Young-gyu, the anchor of the winning lineup, and the simultaneous slump of closer Ryu Jin-wook. The manager said, "Most of all, it is most regrettable and difficult that Kim Young-gyu, a key left-handed pitcher with the ability to pitch on consecutive days, is out. With Ryu Jin-wook's slump also occurring in a chain reaction, changes such as Jeon Sa-min moving forward and then backward have occurred, and it seems to have had some ripple effects."

Ultimately, to turn the tide, NC removed Ryu Jin-wook from the first-division roster and added Son Ju-hwan, Ha Jun-young, and outfielder Han Seok-hyun. Infielder Oh Tae-yang and outfielder Lee Jun-hyeok were also removed. In particular, Ryu Jin-wook, who had been pushed into the closer role, appeared in relief against Kiwoon on the 27th but failed to record a single out, allowing two hits (one home run) and one run before being pulled, suffering from a severe slump recently.

Manager Lee Ho-jun conveyed that for Ryu Jin-wook, technical adjustments are underway beyond simple physical issues. Since runs continued even after resting sufficiently for five or more days before returning to the mound, the analysis is that his balance has completely collapsed.

When asked about Ryu Jin-wook, the manager explained, "He is giving up runs every time he pitches and cannot control the ball in the direction he wants. The drop on his signature splitter has also decreased." He added, "After analyzing with the pitching coach, we found that his arm angle has dropped significantly compared to before. It appears that in trying to add a new 'sweeper,' his arm angle dropped, and this has caused a chain reaction that has collapsed the structure and balance of his existing pitch repertoire." He further stated, "During the 10th-day period, we will not call him up again until he has recovered physically and completed the corrective work to raise his arm angle back up," firmly indicating it would take 10 days or more.

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Regarding the most troubling 'ninth inning,' the team will operate a 'collective closer' system for the foreseeable future without a fixed, permanent closer, adjusting based on game situations and matchups. Manager Lee Ho-jun said, "It is not easy to designate one specific person as the closer. Ultimately, we will have to use pitchers according to the game situation." He explained, "We plan to operate by sending in a pitcher with a strength against left-handed batters if the opposing lineup has many left-handed hitters, and by deploying a player with a favorable matchup if there are many right-handed hitters."

Finally, regarding Jeon Sa-min, whom he considers the strongest bullpen card, the manager added, "Rather than fixing him as the ninth-inning closer, we are considering deploying him by moving him forward to appear in the seventh or eighth inning, when the biggest crisis typically arrives."

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*This content was translated by AI.