*This content was translated by AI.
Something unbelievable happened to the KBO League's top ace this season.
Doosan Bears' Kwak Bin (27) started against SSG Landers at Seoul Jamsil Stadium on the 9th, pitching seven innings while allowing five hits, striking out nine, and surrendering just one run. His only run came in the bottom of the third with two outs: after a walk by Choi Ji-hoon and a wild pitch, Park Sung-han hit an RBI single to left field. Doosan lost 0-1 that day, making Kwak Bin the losing pitcher.
This was not his first time. Six days earlier on the 3rd against LG Twins, Kwak Bin also held batters to three hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts and one earned run. The only blemish was a solo home run given up to Austin in the bottom of the fourth. The game ended in a 0-1 defeat for Doosan. Despite recording back-to-back quality starts (seven or more innings with two or fewer earned runs), Kwak Bin bore the burden of consecutive losses due to his team's struggling offense.
Ironically, both games handed the opposing starting pitchers a historic first achievement of their careers. On the 3rd, LG's second-year pitcher Park Si-won earned his first win in 27 career starts, and on the 9th, SSG's Lee Run tasted the thrill of his first career start victory after four years with the team.
Although he didn't secure a win, Kwak Bin delivered ace-caliber performances in both games and achieved meaningful milestones elsewhere. His ERA dropped further to 2.26, and his strikeout total reached 186, extending his lead over second-place Rodriguez (Lotte Giants, 156) by 30 strikeouts. He also set a new single-season record for most strikeouts by a domestic pitcher in Bears history, surpassing Park Myung-hwan's 181 from 1998. Including foreign players, the all-time record remains 225 by Miranda in 2021.
In his ninth professional season this year, Kwak Bin has firmly established himself as one of the league's premier pitchers. He leads in both ERA and strikeouts, while with 11 wins (7 losses), he shares third place behind Choi Min-seok (Doosan) and Im Chan-kyu (LG), both with 13 wins.
Had Doosan's offense managed to score two or more runs in each of those first two games, Kwak Bin could have reached his 13th win of the season and tied for the league lead in victories. In that scenario, he would have been one step closer to achieving a domestic pitcher's triple crown (wins, ERA, strikeouts) — a feat not accomplished by any Korean pitcher since Yoon Seok-min of KIA in 2011, marking a 15-year drought.
Putting aside his disappointment, Kwak Bin will be called up to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games (AG) representative team on the 14th. Even within the national squad, he is expected to shoulder the role of ace. To prevent situations where strong performances are overshadowed by bad luck at the Asian Games, it is now time not only for Doosan fans but for all baseball supporters across the league's ten teams to offer their encouragement and expectations.
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*This content was translated by AI.
