The Doosan Bears-NC Dinos wild card series, the first game of the 2023 KBO League postseason, ended 14-9. Without any upsets, the top team NC achieved a big win at home and advanced to the semi-playoffs.굿모닝토토
Just looking at the score, it wasn’t a great game. To put it bluntly, this is a game that cannot even be called postseason. It was like a regular season game. Game time is 4 hours and 5 minutes. Both teams had 26 hits, 16 walks, and 13 strikeouts.
No matter how interesting a movie is, it doesn’t last longer than 4 hours. I don’t want to compare other aspects of the game to the major leagues. Recognize level differences. The problem is excessive walking. It is because of walks that the game goes on like a stick.
The 3rd and 4th games of the American League Championship Series between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros were the fierce battles of this year’s MLB postseason. Houston won in enemy territory with scores of 8-5 and 10-3. The game took 3 hours and 5 minutes for the third game, and 3 hours and 14 minutes for the fourth game.
In MLB, advertising time between postseason innings is much longer than during the regular season. During the regular season, it takes about 3 hours. This is why the game does not feel boring. Of course, it may not be a boring game for Doosan and NC fans.
Both teams allowed 7 walks in Game 3, and 9 in Game 4. In particular, in Game 4, Texas starter Andrew Heaney retired without being able to stop even one inning, leading to a bullpen game and giving up as many as seven walks. Korean Dane Dunning, who took the mound after Heaney, allowed three walks in 2.2 innings. The most walks in a game this postseason was 13 in Texas-Baltimore’s 11-8 score.
In the past, when Japanese pitchers entered the MLB, a big difference was their attitude toward walks. MLB avoids allowing walks even if it allows hits. Japanese pitchers try to avoid getting hit and then give up walks. This is called a ‘nibble’. I thought allowing hits was worse. Things have changed these days. Aggressive. One of the reasons for Ryu Hyun-jin’s success in MLB is his fast-tempo, aggressive pitching that does not allow walks.
Allowing walks tires out fielders. It also hurts concentration. That is why it is said, “Base on Balls Kills the Game.”
As many as 14 pitchers were used in the Doosan-NC wild card series. From Doosan’s perspective, the decision to end the season depends on a single game, so the deployment of eight players is understandable. However, on both teams, not a single pitcher pitched a perfect inning. A case where there are more walks than strikeouts is also a record.
I think it comes from the way I learned from a young age rather than the level of the pitchers. Coaches always give pitchers this order. Throw the baited ball well. What you say is correct. However, the priority is to learn how to throw a strike on the course the catcher wants.
KT Coach Park Cheol-young, a former catcher, said in a phone call with a reporter, “When pitching from the bullpen, there are not many pitchers who throw as the catcher asks for an autograph. If he wants 10, he has to throw at least 8 on the course to be a professional. These days, due to overuse, he throws around 40 balls from the bullpen. Even in spring training, the number of pitches is very low. “It has become an environment where pitchers cannot properly throw strikes,” he said, sighing.A pitcher must throw strikes.