KT Wiz hope to climb out of bottom this season
By Baek Byung-yeul
.jpg?w=728)
Donn Roach of the KT Wiz pitches in the first inning of a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League spring exhibition game against the Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, March 14. / Yonhap
With a new baseball season set to begin on Friday, 10 teams of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League wrapped up their spring exhibition league on Sunday and announced starting pitchers for their opening games Monday.
During the spring league, the KT Wiz, who finished in last place the previous two seasons, ranked first with seven wins, one draw and three losses. It would be a good start for the Suwon-based team under new manager Kim Jin-wook, however, as it remains to be seen whether the spring training results will lead to the regular season’s outcomes.
Ever since the KBO League adopted the spring exhibition league in 1983, only six teams, who topped the spring league, claimed the championship title. They were the Haitai Tigers, now called the Kia Tigers, in 1987 and 1993; the Lotte Giants in 1992; the defunct Hyundai Unicorns in 1998; the Samsung Lions in 2002; and the SK Wyverns in 2007.
Last season, the Wiz started the season with high hopes after placing second in the spring, but the result was the same. Also, the Lions, who won the Korean Series title for four consecutive seasons from 2011 to 2014, topped the spring league, but the winning team at the end of the season was the Doosan Bears, who ranked third in the spring.
After taking over the manager’s post, Kim emphasized he will try to build a solid starting rotation as its starting pitchers only had 30 wins and posted 38 quality starts, which will require each pitcher to allow three or fewer earned runs in six or more innings. It is a disappointing number compared to the Bears which had four pitchers who won 69 games.
During the overseas training camp, Kim set up his five-man starting rotation with Donn Roach, Ryan Feierabend, Ju Kwon, Jung Dae-hyun and Ko Young-pyo and they were tested in 11 spring exhibition games.
The right-hander Donn Roach, who is expected to lead the starting rotation, appeared on the mound three times while the other pitchers had two chances. The 27-year-old had three wins and one loss with a 5.77 ERA in 21 games in Major League Baseball. In the spring, he posted an ERA of 3.00, allowing five runs, 16 hits and two walks in 15 innings. He will start the team’s opening game on Friday against the Wyverns.
Feierabend pitched 9 1/3 innings in two games and struck out 12. The left-hander made his KBO debut with the Nexen Heroes in 2015 and joined the Wiz midway through last season. Another southpaw Jung pitched well, taking two wins in two games with a 1.64 ERA. Sidearm right-hander Ko was also in good shape, allowing only one run in 10 innings.
The only flaw in the rotation was second-year right hander Ju. The 21-year-old looked well prepared for the new season, allowing one run in five innings in his first spring appearance against the Tigers on March 17. But he allowed a whopping 15 runs in four innings against the Heroes on Thursday.
Kim tossed his hat into the ring to finish the season in the upper rank of the standings but it remains to be seen whether his starting rotation can compete with the other nine teams.
During a press conference, Monday, Kim expressed his desire to finish higher in the standings this year and the starting point of the goal will be having a winning series in the first three-gamer against Wyverns.