Bae Seong-seong started an away game against the NC Dinos in the 2023 Professional Baseball KBO League held at Changwon NC Park on the 29th, throwing 99 balls in 6.1 innings, recording 8 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and 1 run, KT’s 8-2 led to victory.
It was a game where crisis management skills stood out. There were 2 outs at the end of the 1st inning, 1st and 2nd base at the end of the 5th inning, 1st and 2nd base at the end of the 5th inning, 1 company at the end of the 6th inning and 1st and 2nd base, 안전놀이터 but they wisely passed all the innings with no runs. In the bottom of the 3rd and 4th innings, the tripartite innings were completed, and the only run scored was a left-handed solo shot given to lead batter Yoon Hyung-jun at the bottom of the 7th inning.
Bae Seong-seong, who we met after the game, said, “I feel good because I feel like I threw my ball from the mound after a long time. I will prepare to be more helpful to the team by maintaining today’s balance until the end of the season,” he smiled brightly.
At the end of the second inning, the performance of the batting line, which scored 8 runs on 13 hits, including 3 runs by Sang-cheol Moon in the final, was a great boost to Bae-seong.
He said, “From the beginning of the game, the hitters gave up points one after another. So, even when a runner was in scoring position, he gave the runner a run and worked with the idea of dealing with the next batter. The corner control was good, and the balance was good, so I pitched with confidence.”
In 2015, Bae Seong-seong, who started his professional life after being nominated by the Lotte Giants with a total number 88 in the 2nd round of 9, has been wearing KT’s uniform since the 2017 season. His career record until last year was 32-36 with an earned run average of 4.13 in 128 appearances (557.2 innings).
However, exclusion fell into a deep slump at the beginning of this year. He had a 5.32 earned run average in April, and a 4.41 earned run average in May as well. In June, it seemed to rebound with an average ERA of 1.25 with 2 wins and 1 loss. Manager Lee Kang-cheol and teammate Ko Young-pyo extended a helping hand to this exclusivity.
Bae Seong-seong said, “Before coming to this expedition, the coach said that my arm seems to be throwing from a little lower than when I was good. So I paid attention to that part,” he said. “A few days before the game, I talked with (the late) Young-pyo while watching my pitching video. When I felt good, I tried to force myself into motion, but it didn’t come out well. Youngpyo-hyung looked at me from the side and helped me to get good moves. As a result, a very good balance came out from the first episode. The director and Youngpyo-hyung helped a lot,” he expressed his gratitude.
KT recorded 43 wins, 2 draws and 43 losses on the day, returning to a 50% win rate 99 days after the match against Doosan Bears in Jamsil on April 21st. The ranking is 5th without change, but it is only 1 game away from 4th place NC (43 wins, 1 draw, 41 losses) and 2 games from 3rd place Doosan Bears (44 wins, 1 draw, 40 losses). At the beginning of the season, it stayed at the bottom due to extreme sluggishness, but it seems to be getting closer to fall baseball.
In particular, Bae Seong-seong plans to join Sangmu and serve in the military at the end of this season. Since it is the last season before his enlistment, he must have different goals and thoughts.
He said, “I have no personal greed. Since it is the last season before enlistment, I want to go up to the highest possible level with my teammates.”