KT Wiz bullpen pitcher Joo Kwon (29) got off to a slow start in the 2023 season. He didn’t make the opening day roster due to a forearm injury.
Joo is a key member of KT’s bullpen. After making his professional debut in a KT uniform in 2015, Joo compiled a 32-36 record with four saves and a 5.14 ERA in 105 appearances over 396 games last season.
KT’s bullpen will gain momentum if Joo is on the rise. Photo by Kim Jae-hyun
Starting with the 2019 season, when he was fully established as a closer, he collected double-digit saves for four consecutive years and won the saves title in 2020 with 31. Last season, he went 3-3 with a 3.91 ERA in 58 games, one save and 15 holds.
He was named to the active roster on May 16, but it took him a while to find his groove. After going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in seven games in May, he struggled in June, going 1-1 with a 6.94 ERA. By the end of June, his ERA was just 5.23.
Meanwhile, Joo’s spot in the rotation was slipping away. The bullpen consisted of established closer Kim Jae-yoon, second-year player Park Young-hyun, and Son Dong-hyun. The trio took over the seventh through ninth innings.
However, Joo didn’t let his position slip away, stepping in whenever the team needed him and sweating it out to find his old form. The results are starting to show. Through seven games in July, he has a 2.25 ERA. Only two games have been shutouts. In two games in August, he has a 0 ERA with one hold. His ERA in July and August is in the one-run range.카지노
Manager Lee Kang-cheol said that the sovereignty should be a little higher. Photo by Chun Jeong-hwan
If you look at the first half and the second half of the season, he went 1-0 with a 4.56 ERA in 23 games in the first half, compared to 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four games in the second half, which is not bad.
KT manager Lee Kang-cheol is cautious. He is hoping that he will be able to provide reliable pitching that can be used in 1-3 run games like before.
“I need to see a little more,” Lee said on Tuesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon. “If it comes up a little more, I can rotate Young-hyun or Dong-hyun when he’s off. Kwon is the same, and (Kim) Min-soo needs to come up.”
KT has rebounded and moved up to third in the league standings. If Joo-Kwon is up, KT could go even higher.
