KT Wiz, who was considered one of the championship candidates ahead of the opening of the 2023 KBO League, had a magical season like the team name this year. The team’s ranking fell to the bottom since early May due to injuries and sluggishness of So Hyun-jun and Kang Baek-ho, the core of the two-hitting team that participated in the WBC, and the failure of foreign starting pitchers.카지노사이트

At this time, many people believed that the sabbatical year that comes to every team in the lower ranks came to KT as well. The prevailing expectation was that the record of advancing to the postseason, which had continued since 2020, would be broken this season.

However, the potential of emerging powerhouse KT exceeded expectations. Even with key players missing, the team boasted a strong player base and showed a sharp rebound. Since August, they have even appeared to threaten the leader LG Twins, raising their team ranking to second place. After taking 2nd place, he maintained a wide gap and even secured 2nd place when the battle for 3rd to 5th place was fierce at the end.

Now, KT has the task of finishing the fall farming well. Although they were confirmed to advance directly to the playoffs by finishing second in the regular league, they should aim higher, as they were assessed as a candidate to win this season in the first place.

What is worth noting is that the probability of a team that placed second in the regular season and advanced directly to the playoffs to advance to the Korean Series has recently dropped significantly. The team that took second place in the regular league for four years after the 2019 season was eliminated in the playoffs and did not advance to the Korean Series.

Even if KT passes the playoffs and stands on the Korean Series stage, there is a difficulty in having to overcome the LG Twins, who are ahead of their opponents this season (6 wins, 10 losses) and are considered to be somewhat superior in terms of power. To make matters worse, bad news occurred as Kang Baek-ho, who had returned from winning the Asian Games gold medal and was expected to perform well in the postseason, was out for the season due to a muscle rupture in his side during the Blue and White match.

In order for KT to overcome these difficulties and achieve its second Korean Series championship, the key is to create variables in terms of power that are different from those in the regular season. KT’s biggest strength reinforcement ahead of the playoffs is the return of Eom Sang-baek, who had been out due to injury since his appearance on August 22nd. Eom Sang-baek was diagnosed with a side fracture since the end of August and has not pitched in the regular season.

Currently, he has completed complete rehabilitation and is preparing to return ahead of the first round of the playoffs. Eom Sang-baek is a pitcher who is trusted by manager Lee Kang-cheol, as he pitched as a starting pitcher in last year’s semi-playoffs. If Eom Sang-baek, the league’s top sidearm pitcher, has completely regained his pitch and joined the team, it is highly likely that the depth of KT’s mound will be longer than the regular season.

This season, KT finished the regular league in second place through a dramatic rebound after falling to last place. Can KT, which rose 8 places from 10th place, complete the narrative of standing at the top in fall baseball? It is no exaggeration to say that KT’s happy ending in the fall rests on the shoulders of Eom Sang-baek, who will be active in all weathers.