2024-07-19 03:56:19
1st place in ERA-strikeouts
Tied for 3rd place in most wins with 8 wins and 2 losses
‘Super Ace’ Pedi fills the gap
“Exquisite control, optimized for ABS”
Eric Peddie (31), who played for NC last year, returned to the Major League Baseball (MLB) ahead of this season. Peddie was an unrivaled ‘super ace’ when he played in Korean professional baseball. Last season, he won the ‘triple crown’, the three crowns of pitchers, by ranking first in wins (20 wins), ERA (2.00), and strikeouts (209). He was also selected as the regular season MVP. Peddie, who plays for the Chicago White Sox in MLB, is playing this year with 7 wins, 3 losses, and an ERA of 2.99.
NC had a lot of worries when they let go of Peddie, but now Peddie’s absence is not felt that much. This is because new foreign pitcher Kyle Hart (32) has established himself as the team’s ace. Left-handed pitcher Hart pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, and no runs in the game against Kiwoom on the 12th, his first appearance in the second half of the season, and earned his 8th win (2 losses) of the season. As of the 17th, he is tied for 3rd in wins. He is 2 wins behind Kiwoom’s Heisus (10 wins), who is in first place in wins. He is in first place in ERA (2.57) and strikeouts (119). If the current trend continues, he could aim for a Triple Crown like Peddie last year.
Hart mainly played in the Triple-A minor league of the US professional baseball league. In MLB, he appeared in 4 games in 2020, pitching 11 innings, leaving 0 wins, 1 loss, and an ERA of 15.55. Because of this, before the start of this season, NC’s first starter was expected to be another foreign pitcher, Daniel Castano (30), not Hart. Castano, also a left-handed pitcher, appeared in 24 games over 4 seasons in MLB, recording 2 wins, 7 losses, and an ERA of 4.47.
Hart also throws a sweeper, a pitch that drops at a greater angle than a slider, like a Peddie. Hart has been practicing the sweeper intensively since spring camp and has made it his main weapon. In the game against Kiwoom on the 12th, he threw 24 sweepers out of 96 pitches, the most, and shut down the opposing batting line.
Another thing that NC focused on when recruiting Hart was his exquisite control. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) introduced the so-called robot umpire, the ‘Automatic Ball and Strike Judging System (ABS)’, starting this year, and Hart’s pitching style was expected to fit well with the ABS. Hart easily throws a variety of pitches, including a 150 km/h fastball, a two-seam fastball, a cut fastball, and a changeup, to the places where the ABS calls them strikes.
Hart has made 18 starts this season, throwing 112 innings and walking just 26 batters. He has also pitched at least five innings in all 18 games, recording 12 quality starts (6+ innings, 3+ earned runs) and eight quality starts plus (7+ innings, 3+ earned runs).
Along with Hart, NC’s left-handed ‘one-two punch’ Castano is also firmly guarding the mound, tying for 3rd place with 8 wins (5 losses). Castano started in the game against Hanwha on the 17th and pitched well with 1 run in 8 innings. With this day’s win, NC returned to a .500 winning percentage (43 wins, 43 losses, 2 draws) and tied for 5th place with SSG. Last year, Peddie virtually led NC to the fall baseball, but this year, two foreign pitchers are helping the team compete for the postseason.
Reporter Lee Heon-jae [email protected]
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2024-07-19 03:56:19