SSG are facing a dire situation with no viable solutions, and eventually, the best may come to an end.
SSG Landers is on the brink. They need a fixer to get them through the crisis.
SSG will play the third game of the 2023 KBO postseason semifinals (best-of-five) against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on May 25. The team is in a precarious position after dropping Games 1 and 2 at home in Incheon. One more loss and it’s over. SSG will have to rely on their ‘signature hitter’ Choi Jung to fight back.
They went 3-4 in game one and 3-7 in game two. You can’t just blame the pitchers. In Game 1, foreign pitcher Roenis Elias pitched eight innings of two-run ball. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning before giving up a two-run homer to Kim Sung-wook in the top of the eighth with the score tied 0-0.
Choi Jung-jeong’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth narrowed the deficit to one run, but they gave up two more runs in the ninth, and Ha Jae-hoon’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth ended the first game. In the second game, the trusted starter Kim Kwang-hyun gave up three runs in the first inning.
However, SSG had plenty of chances to turn the game around. In fact, they seemed to have a better ‘feel’ than NC. Ha Jae-hoon said, “I don’t think our players’ batting feelings are bad,” and coach Kim Won-hyung said he had no problem with the hitters’ batting condition.
“We’re getting good hits. But in the professional world, you have to show results. In the first game, SSG had runners on first and second and third in the third inning, but failed to score a run, and in the fourth inning, they were left stranded with runners on first and second.
In Game 2, leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo drew a walk in the first inning, but Choi Joo-hwan singled and Choi Jung struck out swinging. In the second inning, Heredia led off with a single but was unable to follow through. In the third, Kim Sung-hyun was hit by a pitch and Kim Min-sik drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, but Choo Shin-soo flied out to center field and Choi Joo-hwan and Choi Jeong struck out swinging.
After Han Yoo-seom’s two-run homer in the fourth, Choi Joo-hwan singled to right-center with two outs in the top of the fifth. However, Choi could only manage a foul fly to right field against reliever Lee Jae-hak. In the seventh, Choi was caught stealing second off Ryu Jin-wook on a grounder to center field.
Choi is the centerpiece of SSG’s batting lineup. In 128 regular-season games this year, he batted 2-for-9 with 29 home runs and 87 RBIs. He was born in 1987, which is not a young age, 먹튀검증 but he was second in home runs. He was on pace for his fourth career home run title. He was unable to complete the regular season due to a micro-tear in his left hamstring, which prevented him from continuing his quest for the home run title.
The SSG members were relieved to finish the regular season in third place. Starting with the semi-playoffs instead of the wild card gave Choi some time to recover and make the roster.
But now that he’s feeling well enough to play defense, the expectations are high again, and so are the expectations for him. She’s always been a player who hits when the going gets tough. Last year, Choi played a big role in SSG’s Korean Series victory, batting 4-for-7 with two home runs and nine RBIs in six games.
However, he is batting just 1-for-7 with one home run and three RBIs in Game 1 and Game 2. A player who was strong at the plate is still silent. Hanyusum is exploding, but it’s a lonely fight. SSG can only make a comeback if Choi Jung is alive.