Lee Kang-cheol gives an interview
KT WIZ head coach Lee Kang-cheol speaks to reporters at Jamsil Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 6.
KT WIZ, 토토사이트 which has been quietly racking up wins, is now overtaking second place.
The gap between the league's third-place KT and second-place SSG Landers has narrowed to one game.
KT, which won against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 15th and 16th to continue its nine-game winning streak (two or more wins in three games), will complete a five-game winning streak with a win on the 17th.
"It doesn't make sense," KT manager Lee Kang-cheol smiled as he looked at his team's leap from last to third place in the standings ahead of Sunday's game against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
"Even when we were doing badly, we were like, 'If we have a positive win/loss margin, we're going to go up.' Once we crossed that threshold, we went straight up. I think this is the power of experience," he said, analyzing the driving force behind the upswing.
With a solid starting lineup and a cohesive batting lineup, 스포츠토토 KT is the last team any team wants to face right now.
"Every now and then, we get the feeling that other teams find us difficult," Lee said, "and when Choi Soo-joon was out with an injury, Yeo Ji-seong filled in well."
The Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin next month, could be a factor in KT's rise.
KT will be without outfielder Kang Baek-ho and right-handed pitcher Park Young-hyun for the duration of the tournament.
Considering that Kang Baek-ho is currently unavailable for league play, the team will be able to continue its late-season run in the KBO without Young-hyun Park.
"Even now, when I put Park Young-hyun on the mound, I think, 'What if I don't have him,'" Lee said. "I expect Son Dong-hyun to fill that role during the Asian Games. We'll make a concrete plan after the rest of the schedule comes out."
Meanwhile, Lee inserted outfielder Bae Byeong-dae, who had confessed prior to the game that he had sexually harassed a junior in high school, into the starting lineup as the No. 2 hitter.
"I don't think there's anything I can say about it," Lee said, 스포츠토토맨 "I asked him if he apologized, and he said he didn't.