SSG Landers is having an upheaval offseason after the 2023 season. SSG new manager Lee Sung-yong used the word “remodeling,” but changes have begun anyway. And it is the bullpen that is most urgent to remodel at SSG right now.
SSG made a surprise announcement on Oct. 31. It ended its contract with manager Kim Won-hyung, who achieved the unified victory in the 2022 season and ranked third in the 2023 regular season. At the time, SSG said it needed change and innovation, including overall team management and replacement of players. It said it would “remodel” amid harmony between old and new teams. However, SSG said it chose to separate from manager Kim Won-hyung for reasons other than its performance, saying it would never cancel the contract due to performance.
SSG appointed a new head coach shortly afterwards. The main character was Lee Sung-yong, the former head of KT Wiz.
Coach Lee Sung-yong, who knew the assignment of harmony between old and new, said at the inauguration ceremony, “It’s not as easy as it sounds to do with both performance and development. I think it’s impossible if I’m alone, but I think I can do it if I communicate with the players and the coaching staff and the front desk help me.”
Most of SSG’s main players in the 2023 season were in their mid-30s. Among them, the bullpen was the most dependent on veterans.
Among SSG pitchers, a total of 13 players pitched in more than 20 games in the 2023 season. Except for foreign pitchers Kirk McCarty and Roenis Elias, Choi Min-joon, Lee Yu-ro, Oh Won-seok, Lee Geon-wook and Baek Seung-gun are all players in their 20s. Lee Geon-wook and Baek Seung-gun played only 27 and 25 games, respectively, as bullpen pitchers, while Oh Won-seok pitched in 28 games as starting pitchers. 랭크카지노
Except for the three players, Choi Min-joon and Lee Yoo are the only bullpen pitchers in their 20s who fully handled the 2023 season. Most of the rest of the bullpen pitchers who were in charge of SSG’s 2023 season are in their mid-30s or 40s.
Veteran Noh Kyung-eun and Ko Hyo-joon were the key players who led the bullpen. Noh, 39, played in 76 games in the 2023 season with eight wins, five losses, two saves, and 29 holds with an ERA of 3.58. When his team was struggling, he displayed the spirit of sacrifice by playing three consecutive games.
Ko Hyo-joon, who is 40 years old, also pitched in 73 games with four wins, one loss and a 4.50 ERA at 13 holds. He was shaken by his 12.38 ERA in September (eight innings and 11 runs) due to his physical deterioration, but struggled throughout the season in SSG, which lacked left-handed pitchers. Seo Jin-yong, a 31-year-old closer, spent his career high season winning the title of Save King with five wins, four losses and 40 saves and an ERA of 2.48.