Doosan's bullpen management against NC was regrettable; they should have brought in Kwak Bin → Missed the chance to start a 5G storm [Kim In-sik's One Word]

*This content was translated by AI.

I believe that this season, all nine KBO League teams except Kiwoom Heroes have roughly comparable strength. Kiwoom has improved its pitching compared to last year but its batting is somewhat weaker. If SSG Landers had a pitcher like Avila from the first half of the season, their record would not have been so poor.

However, the difference among top-tier teams such as KT Wiz, Samsung Lions, and LG Twins lies in having a few more players who truly understand baseball compared to other teams.

The key variable at the end of the regular season is the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. On the 14th, So Jip-doen (CEO) team players will leave their respective clubs for about two weeks. Among the teams competing for standings, KT (Park Young-hyun, So Hyoung-jun, Oh Won-seok), KIA Tigers (Kim Do-young, Park Jae-hyun, Sung Young-tak), and Doosan Bears (Kwak Bin, Choi Min-seok, Park Jun-soon) are expected to face relatively greater burdens.

Especially noteworthy is the fifth-place battle between Doosan and NC Dinos, which has been narrowed by three games. While Doosan is considered to have suffered the greatest loss of strength during this Asian Games period, NC has only lost one shortstop (Kim Ju-won). Although his absence is significant, no pitchers were withdrawn, and new foreign pitcher Mike Cleavinger has joined the team. Moreover, Doosan has only 16 games remaining, while NC will play six more games, totaling 22.

In this regard, I feel regrettable as a commentator about Doosan's pitching management during their head-to-head match held at Jamsil Stadium on the 12th.

On that day, Doosan's starting pitcher Jackalog surrendered three runs in the top of the first inning but immediately responded with five runs in the bottom of the first and added one more in the bottom of the second to take a 6-3 lead. However, Jackalog allowed another three runs in the top of the fifth, tying the game at 6-6.

After Jackalog completed the fifth inning, Doosan activated its bullpen from the sixth inning onward. However, Kim Jung-woo was pulled after issuing two consecutive walks to two batters. Takada then surrendered a left-field single by Park Min-woo and a shortstop grounder by Kim Ju-won, allowing all leading runners to score home before also giving up a two-run home run to Kwon Hee-dong. Doosan fell behind 6-10 and later saw Park Chi-guk, Lee Yong-chan, and Kim Taek-yeon pitch scoreless innings while the lineup chased three runs, but ultimately lost by one point, 9-10.

Doosan should have deployed stronger pitchers earlier. Even when Jackalog allowed a tying run after giving up five consecutive hits to five batters in the top of the fifth, he was not replaced. Although his pitch count (final: 88) was relatively low, it would have been better to make the change while still holding the lead.

Kim Jung-woo, who appeared from the sixth inning onward, has posted strong results this season. It is also true that Doosan has generally deployed its winning lineup in the order of Kim Jung-woo, Takada, Kim Taek-yeon, and Lee Young-ha.

However, this game was against NC, which was virtually the only team threatening the fifth-place position. It was a match that had to be won at all costs, even with unconventional pitching management. Therefore, it was necessary to change the order of bullpen appearances and bring in the strongest pitcher first. In the end, closer Lee Young-ha did not even get a chance to pitch.

It would have been worth considering bringing in Kwak Bin, who had rested for two days after making a start against SSG on the 9th. Even if Kwak Bin were called up to the national team on the 14th, he would not immediately begin full pitching but only practice, so there would be no major issue. If the manager failed to consider this, the coaches should have suggested it from the sidelines.

Doosan won the following day on the 13th, maintaining a three-game lead over NC. Had they secured the game on the 12th, they could have extended their lead by five games and faced the Asian Games call-up with greater ease. While one win and one loss in a two-game series might be considered break-even, for Doosan, it is equivalent to finishing a three-game series with one win and two losses.

In Major League Baseball, the San Francisco Giants utilized Madison Bumgarner not only as a starter but also as a reliever during their championship years in even-numbered years (2010, 2012, 2014). In the KBO League, it is also common for starting pitchers to appear in relief during decisive postseason games.

The remaining approximately 20 games for each team should no longer be viewed as a typical pennant race. Since games are played intermittently, there is no need to strictly adhere to the usual starting rotation or bullpen appearance order; instead, the strongest pitchers must be deployed early.

This applies not only to Doosan but also to other teams. Now, final standings could change based on a single game's result, determining whether they will participate in autumn baseball. One should think that missing one game means there are no more games until next year's opening. If the standings are ultimately decided by a single-game difference later, how regrettable would it be to have lost just one crucial match?

/Former Korea national baseball team head coach Kim In-sik (currently a senior advisor to the KBO)

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*This content was translated by AI.