LG Twins’ foreign ace Detrick Ence (33) and Samsung Lions’ native ace Won Tae-in (24) will face off as the starting pitchers in the second round of the playoffs (PO, best-of-five).
The Samsung Lions and the LG Twins will face off at 6:30 p.m. on the 14th at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO postseason playoff (PO, best-of-five).
In the first game held on the previous day (April 13), Samsung beat LG 10-4 after hitting 14 hits. After the game ended, Samsung coach Park Jin-man and LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop announced Won Tae-in and Ence, respectively, as starters for the second game.
Won took the mound in 28 games and recorded 15 wins and six losses with an earned run average of 3.66. He shared the title of the most wins with Kwak Bin (Doosan Bears) and was the No. 1 Korean pitcher in ERA. During 159 ⅔ innings, he posted 150 hits (17 homers), 42 walks, 119 strikeouts and 68 runs (65 earned runs) with WHIP (per-inning allowance) of 1.20 and a batting average of 0.245 respectively. He pitched 13 times in quality start (less than three earned runs in six innings as a starter).
In this year’s regular season, LG started two games and recorded one loss and an earned run average of 4.09 without a win. He had 13 hits (one homer) in 11 innings, three walks, and five runs (five earned) on balls.
Wontae-in has heavy shoulders. Connor Seabold, a foreign pitcher for Samsung, was not included in the playoff entry due to pain in his shoulder blade. After all, the Samsung Lions took out Wontae-in as a starting card for the second game after starting pitcher Denny Reyes in the first game. Wontae-in took a three-week rest on the last day of his regular season against Kiwoom on April 22. Against Wontae-in, Kim Hyun-soo, 롤 토토 had a batting average of 0.469 and one homerun in total at the LG Twins. Also, Austin (4 hits in 8 times at bat) and Shin Min-jae (3 hits in 6 times at bat) each had a batting average of .500. Moon Bo-kyung also hit one homerun this season against Wontae-in. It is his first postseason start.
In response, left-hander N.S. will play as the starting pitcher. N.S. posted 13 wins, six losses and an earned run average of 4.19, in 30 appearances this season. He tied for third in the most wins category. During 167 ⅔ innings, he posted a batting average of 0.263, with 169 hits (16 homers) and 50 walks, 157 strikeouts and 84 runs (78 earned runs) in WHIP. He pitched 13 times in quality starting pitcher games. In this year’s match against Samsung, he pitched in two games, and had one loss and an earned run average of 3.00 without a win. During a total of 12 innings, he had eight hits (two homers), three walks, and four runs (four earned runs) with 12 strikeouts and four runs (four earned runs) on a ball hit rate of 0.190.
In his two semi-playoff games, he had 11 hits (two homers), four walks, nine strikeouts and seven runs (seven earned runs) in eight ⅔ innings. He played in the first game on Saturday and the fourth game on Sunday, only to suffer one loss. He will also take the mound after resting for four days. Against ENS, Kang Min-ho showed strong performance by posting two hits and one homerun from five times at bat at the Samsung Lions this year. Kim Young-woong also hit one homerun.
At first, LG also considered Son Joo-young as the starting pitcher for the second round. However, LG decided that it needed more time off in the LG training part, and N.C. took the heavy responsibility. “Depending on what kind of pitches N.C.E.S. will pitch in the second round, we can either prevail or lose ground in this series. The second round will be the most important thing. I think the only way is to expect from N.C. in the second round. I have been thinking about my final goal of 1 win and 1 loss (in an away game in Daegu). I will make sure to win in the second round,” LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said after the first round.
Will Samsung win its second consecutive game thanks to Won Tae-in’s strong pitching? Or will ENS play its best and return to Jamsil with its entire series back to square one? Baseball fans are paying keen attention to Daegu.