"Calculating for the semifinals? There is no such luxury → Only Kwak Bin designated as starter for Wild Card Game 1" Doosan Bears takes bold step, converting Jack Log to bullpen!

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The Doosan Bears, facing a Wild Card playoff where they must win to advance, have declared an all-out effort for the postseason. Left-handed foreign pitcher Jack Log, who has consistently started games, will change his role to the bullpen for the Wild Card series. It is a firm decision by the manager, who believes there is no room to conserve the starting rotation while calculating for the semifinals. He is scheduled to be on bullpen standby starting from the regular season finale against the Lotte Giants on the 12th.

Ahead of the regular season finale against the Lotte Giants at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 12th, Doosan Bears manager Kim Won-hyung revealed his plans for managing the mound in the Wild Card series. The Doosan Bears announced a "bullpen day" for that game to sharpen the overall sharpness of their bullpen. In this process, what drew attention was the role of starting pitcher Jack Log.

Doosan Bears manager Kim Won-hyung stated, "We must use Jack Log in the bullpen during the Wild Card series. He himself wanted to try pitching from the middle of the game," adding, "Depending on the timing, we plan to bring him in during today's game." The team is conducting a preliminary check to use Log as an "elite reliever" rather than a starter on the main stage of the postseason.

Currently, the only starting pitcher firmly established in Manager Kim's mind for the Wild Card series is domestic ace Kwak Bin, who will start Game 1. Regarding his postseason starting plans, Manager Kim said, "Right now, only Kwak Bin is in my head, and I am only thinking about candidates for the Game 2 starter. The rest are all bullpen," effectively formalizing a bullpen standby system for all starting resources except Kwak Bin.

The Doosan Bears, who secured a spot in the Wild Card series by finishing fifth, must win both Game 1 and Game 2 to advance to the semifinals. Given the critical condition that losing even one game ends their postseason run, there is absolutely no room to spare starting pitchers. On the 12th, they will compete with the LG Twins and KIA Tigers for third place; the team that loses will finish fourth.

Manager Kim explained, "It would be good if our starters could pitch long innings, but in big games, situations can change drastically depending on the flow of the game early on." He added, "We must deploy the bullpen by finding the maximum strategy to win, even if it means accepting back-to-back pitching duties depending on the situation."

When asked, "Are there no rotation arrangements considering the next stage, such as the semifinals?" Manager Kim's answer was resolute. Manager Kim Won-hyung said, "We cannot play this Wild Card series while calculating for the next semifinals. Right now, we have neither the time nor the capacity to calculate," emphasizing, "It is an 'all-in' effort to pour everything into winning these two games. If we get a good result, we can worry about pitchers for the next game then."

Attention is turning to whether the Doosan Bears, who are leading with starting pitcher Kwak Bin in Game 1 and taking the bold step of deploying foreign starter Jack Log from the bullpen, can create a dramatic turnaround in the do-or-die Wild Card series.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original