KIA Tigers pitcher Lim Ki-young (30) had a hard time pinpointing what kind of identity he had as a pitcher as he entered his 12th year as a pro.
He clearly had more of a career as a starter, appearing in 122 of his 226 career games as a starter, but he never had a distinct career to put forward as a starter.
Lim Ki-young,토토사이트 who joined Hanwha in 2012, wore the KIA uniform as a reward player for Song Eun-beom (now LG), and in 2017, after returning from military service, he recorded 8-6 with an average ERA of 3.65 and 2 shutout wins in 23 games, making him the KIA’s best player. It was a blessing that led to the unified victory.
However, this was the best season of Lim Ki-young’s career. He never had a 10-win season (the most with 9 wins), and he never filled regulation innings. As he continued his career as a starting pitcher, he failed to reveal his presence. He hit no more than 5 starts and did not advance.
This year, Lim Ki-young also competed for a spot in the starting lineup. He looked forward to boarding the last train of the starting lineup. However, as rookie Yoon Young-cheol stood out in the spring camp and demonstration games, the club devised a strategic training plan to place Yoon in the starting lineup. Lim Ki-young had no choice but to be pushed out of the starting lineup. In the end, Lim Ki-young’s position became the bullpen.
His first position was in Long Relief. When the starting lineup was in danger of collapsing, his multi-inning digestion was common. He was inconspicuous and unnoticed, but it was a position where he suffered the most and was responsible for the game. However, Lim Ki-young appealed to his presence with pitching contents that made this obscure position shine on his own.
Lim Ki-young came up as the second pitcher after the starting pitcher went down. He even came up in the 4th inning as early as possible. However, Lim Ki-young actively engaged in a game with the batter in any situation and quickly deleted the innings, and based on this, situations where the game continued on an equal footing and reversed were created. Finisher Jeong Hae-young went through ups and downs, and Jang Hyun-shik, who had to play the role of Pil Seung-jo, and Jeon Sang-hyun and Park Joon-pyo were shaken, and even took on the role of Pil Seung-jo, who digested short innings. As he established his identity as a multi-inning victory group with his iron wall, he is evaluated as KIA’s ‘God’s move’ this year.
Lim Ki-young recorded 2 wins, 1 loss, 2 saves and 11 holds with an ERA of 2.35 in 42 games this year. He doesn’t have many appearances, but he did 61⅓ innings. It is currently the most innings among bullpen pitchers. His multi-inning games amounted to 22, more than half of 42 games. He played up to 4 innings and played a key role.
In the match against Sajik Lotte on the 12th, he played the role of long relief and Pilseungjo at the same time. In the 5th inning, where they were chased from 8-1 to 8-5, starter Yoon Young-cheol failed to catch one out count, causing a crisis and having to come down without meeting the winning pitcher requirements. Of course, Lim Ki-young was the choice for the KIA bench. It was his first appearance in 8 days after the match against Hanwha on the 4th. Lim Ki-young came up from 2nd out and 1st base in the 5th inning and put out the urgent fire by treating Jeong-hoon as a floating ball to center fielder with two balls.
And in the 6th inning, Gudrum, Kim Min-seok, and Roh Jin-hyeok all three batters struck out on a swing and stabilized the game. He also came up in the 7th inning and hit the pinch hitters Koh Seung-min, Ahn Kwon-soo, and An Chi-hong. 2⅓ innings, 3 strikeouts, no runs, perfect pitching. The number of pitches was 27.
After Lim Ki-young came up, the game stabilized, and the batting line exploded once again, completing a 13-5 victory. Lim Ki-young earned his second win of the season.
After the game, Lim Ki-young said, “It’s been a week since I started, but I think I’ve been well rested, so I seem to have a good fastball. So he pitched aggressively. At first, I felt a bit less relaxed and heavy, but I got used to it after throwing it.” I climbed the mound with a thought. Even after that, he pitched at a fast tempo and tried to finish the inning quickly.”
This year, Lim Ki-young’s pitches per inning are 14.9, and the number of pitches per at-bat is 3.87. He said, “Compared to pitched innings, the number of pitches is small, but the first pitch is always a strike and tries to enter.” ” explained the changed pattern.
Lastly, he promised, “It is an important time when the team is fighting for rankings, and if the team can win, I will come out in any situation and try to become a player who protects the team’s victory.”