Im Ki-young (KIA Tigers) has been on the first team mound wearing a KIA uniform since the 2017 season. He mainly pitched as a starting pitcher for six seasons until last season, but is playing very well as a bullpen pitcher this season 토토사이트.
Ahead of this season, KIA had a lot of concerns about its 5th starter. Lim Ki-young, Yoon Young-cheol, and Kim Ki-hoon were among the candidates. Youngcheol Yoon was selected as the 5th starter. Im Ki-young started the season with long relief. He plays a long relief role perfectly and has established himself as a key bullpen member who can come on whenever the team needs him.
On the 1st, Im Ki-young said, “At the beginning of the season, I played the role of long relief behind the starter. But I had to somehow make my own position. I thought that if I pitched long well, there would be more games where I would pitch in important situations.” So, I tried to pitch more aggressively than usual. I thought I would get better results when the coach trusted me and hired me.”]
Im Ki-young took the mound against Incheon SSG Landers on the 2nd and played his 50th game this season. He is performing well with 4 wins, 2 losses, 12 holds, 3 saves, 69⅓ innings, 22 runs (20 earned), an earned run average (ERA) of 2.60, and WHIP (on-base percentage allowed per inning) of 0.82.
Lim Ki-young said, “I didn’t think I would do this well in the bullpen this season, but as the good games continued, I gained a lot of confidence in myself. I think confidence is the most important thing. I always try to be aggressive when I go on the mound. I always try to be aggressive when I go on the mound. “I think that if I finish my defense in time, the batters can be more focused when attacking. So I think I need to end the inning with fewer balls, and I think the results are continuing to be good,” he said.
Among the KBO League bullpen pitchers, Lim Ki-young is the pitcher who has played the most innings. Second place Park Young-hyun (KT Wiz) was responsible for 63⅓ innings. That’s why fans are so worried. However, Im Ki-young said that his physical condition is not a problem and that he is taking good care of his body.
He said, “I’m trying to take more care of my body and condition. I’m always ready for a 2nd or 3rd game in a row. The manager and coach take good care of me,” and added, “Even when I was a starter, I pitched 100 to 130 innings every year. The fans “People are worried a lot, but you don’t have to worry. I’m not in any pain. My condition is still good. I want to keep it longer,” he said.
KIA’s batting lineup is swinging a fire bat, ranking first in team batting average in August. The hot batting sensation continues in the three-game series against SSG. He scored 10 points on the 1st and 12 on the 2nd. Thanks to the power of his batting lineup and stable mound, he is on a 7-game winning streak. The gap between them and 4th place NC Dinos is 1 game and 3rd place SSG is 2.5 games away.
Im Ki-young said, “We have to go up further. I think the games until next week will be important. I think it will be decided whether we can go up further or if we go back and forth from this position. But the atmosphere is very good. The pitchers are 2-3 players. “Because batters can score more points just by giving up runs, the pitcher part is talking a lot about giving up at least as many runs as possible,” he said.
KIA will play the last game of a three-game series against SSG on the 3rd. After a day’s rest on the 4th, they will clash with Jamsil Doosan Bears. Next, a three-game series against the LG Twins awaits at home from the 8th to the 10th.
