Heroes on rolling in early KBO season

The Nexen Heroes’ Danny Dorn, right, celebrates after hitting a home run in the top of the seventh inning during his team’s game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Following the winning series in their season opener, the Nexen Heroes have been leading the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League with three wins, one tie and two losses last week.

After taking two wins and one loss against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon earlier last week, the Heroes had a three-game series with the defending champion Doosan Bears and shared a win, a tie and a loss last weekend.

The Heroes go against previous expectations many baseball commentators made about the Seoul-based team, predicting they would stay at the bottom of the standings as they lost too many players in the offseason ― slugger Park Byung-ho left for the United States; free agent outfielder Yoo Han-joon, who recorded 1.009 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) last season, signed with the KT Wiz; another free agent and closer Son Seung-lak left for the Lotte Giants; and American lefty Andy Van Hekken, who had 58 wins during the last four seasons, left for Japan.

On top of that, their key pitchers Cho Sang-woo and Han Hyun-hee will miss the entire season due to injuries, and their infielder Yoon Suk-min, who had 0.962 OPS last year, will miss four to six weeks after being hit on his right wrist during the game against the Eagles, Tuesday.

Though their team batting average (.260, fifth among 10 teams) and team ERA (4.61, sixth in the league) remained only average, the Heroes have kept on winning by improving their efficiency on offense ― they lead the league in stolen bases with 11; base on balls with 54; RBIs with 45; and they also had the league’s second highest on-base percentage (.368).

On the mound, the team’s fourth and fifth starting pitchers Park Ju-hyeon and Shin Jae-young put on performances as the 19-year-old Park allowed five runs while throwing 10 innings and Shin who returned to his team after completing his compulsory military duty, took a win in his KBO debut game against the Eagles on Wednesday after throwing seven innings with three runs. Plus, their new closer Kim Se-hyun garnered two saves last week though he looked lethargic in the opener against the Lotte Giants.

Following the Heroes were the SK Wyverns who swept the three-game series against the LG Twins last weekend; the Bears who had three wins, one tie and two losses last week; and the Giants who had four wins and two losses at their home Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium last week.

It remains to be seen whether the Heroes can still continue their upturn against the Wiz this week. Beginning Tuesday, the Heroes will host the Wiz for a three-game series at their home Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul.

The Wiz, who got off to an 11-game losing streak to start their inaugural season last year, are in third place with five wins and four losses thanks to their three overseas pitchers who made five wins ― Colombian right handed starter Sugar Ray Marimon with two wins; Venezuelan right hander Yohan Pino with two wins; and American Travis Banwart with one win. After taking on the Wiz, the Heroes will have another three-game series on the road against the Kia Tigers this weekend.