After being called up to the first team in May of last year to revitalize the Doosan Bears’ bullpen, pitcher Jung Chul-won quickly became a dominant force and continued his rise to the end of the season, winning the Rookie of the Year title. It was virtually the only consolation for Doosan, who finished the regular season in ninth place.
Chung’s role this season was also to be a ‘must-win’. At the beginning of the season, he was trusted by Doosan head coach Lee Seung-yeop to take care of the second half of the game alongside Hong Gun-hee, and things seemed to be going well until April.
However, he had some ups and downs in May and was unable to turn things around. Chung seemed to rebound last month, going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in eight games and 7⅔ innings with three saves, but has struggled a bit this month, going 1-0 with a 7.00 ERA in eight games and nine innings with two saves.
In particular, Jung Chul-won, who was switched with closer Hong Gun-hee two weeks ago, has been cracking down on the back door, but the results have been less than stellar since the switch. In five games, he’s only had one game without an earned run, and he was embarrassed when he left the mound after less than one inning against the SSG Landers in Jamsil on April 26-27. During this time, the team lost two straight games, directly affecting Chung’s performance, and the team’s ranking dropped to sixth place.
After the team’s away game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul was canceled due to rain on the 29th, Lee said, “I think we should focus on the players who are in good shape. I think we should really run the game for the sake of the team’s victory,” he said, adding, “I had decided on Chung Chul-won for the ninth inning, but now I think we should look at it more broadly if he’s not feeling well and his failures are increasing.”토토사이트
As for what he struggles with in the ninth inning, he said, “I don’t think it’s the mental part. “I talked to the pitching coach, and he said that there was a slight difference in my pitching form compared to when I was good, so he said that he found the problem by watching the video, so I think I should believe it from tomorrow (30th).”
The reality for Doosan is that not only Jung Chul-won, but also Hong Gun-hee and Park Chi-guk, the team’s top three pitchers are faltering at the same time, making it impossible to watch the second half of the game comfortably. In the end, the best case scenario is for the existing players to find stability.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “I think it’s not an easy decision to evaluate our pitchers as having one or two bad games because they’ve been doing a good job so far, so of course I believe in them, and I think it’s time to get tough. We have to make do with what we have because we’re exhausted physically and mentally. I think yesterday (Aug. 28) and today (Aug. 29) we’re going to have some time to recharge, and we’re going to take better care of the guys who are going to be pitching six to nine innings because they’re important.”