One of the match-ups of the second round of the professional baseball semi-playoff (semi-PO, three wins out of five) at SSG Landers Field in Incheon at 6:30 p.m. on the 23rd is a match-up between Son Ah-seop (NC Dinos), two-time batting champion, and Kim Kwang-hyun, the last bastion on the SSG Landers mound.
If Son Ah-seop, the advance guard of the batting line, attacks Kim Kwang-hyun well, NC can solve the attack more smoothly.
If Kim Kwang-hyun blocks Son Ah-seop well like Roenis Elias in the first game, the game is expected to flow tight.
Son Ah-seop, who ranked No. 1 in batting average (0.339) and No. 1 in hits (187) in the regular league this year, is enjoying fall baseball for the first time in six years since he played for the Lotte Giants in 2017.
In the wild card game against the Doosan Bears, he had a good start by shooting 2 hits in 5 at-bats, but in the first round of the semi-PO on the 22nd, he was tied to Elias and never stepped on first base with no hits in 4 at-bats.
Son was weak in the regular season with one hit in seven at-bats against Elias.
However, against Kim Kwang-hyun, he hit well with three hits in six at-bats, including one double, inflating expectations.
NC's top batters, which lead to Son Ah-seop, Park Min-woo, Park Gun-woo, and Jason Martin, are sufficient to put pressure on the opposing team's mound in terms of skills and experience.
Park Min-woo and Park Gun-woo hit 1 in 5 at-bats and 1 in 4 at-bats, respectively, to Kim Kwang-hyun during the season, and Martin is also okay with 3 in 7 at-bats, which is a big challenge for Kim Kwang-hyun.
In addition, Kim Kwang-hyun, who had four wins, three losses and three saves in the postseason, has not added a win in fall baseball for more than a decade since the 2012 Korean Series when he was the SK Wyverns. 스포츠토토
Considering the momentum of NC's lower lineup, which has been on the rise, Kim Kwang-hyun can play the game stably only by breaking the link to the top lineup. This is why we should focus more on the confrontation with Son Ah-seop, the core of that connection.
NC, which has saved three-time pitcher Eric Peddy, who is recovering from a bruise on his right arm, since Game 3, has more room to manage the mound than SSG, which takes one win in the away game and sends out both of its flagship starting cards in Games 1 and 2.
Like the first game, SSG will issue a bullpen mobilization order in the second game to secure one win at home and head to Changwon.