The NC Dinos’ homegrown starters are returning to the field after an injury woes.
Right-hander Lee Jae-hak is expected to make his start as early as this week.
Lee was originally scheduled to pitch against the SSG Landers on the 23rd, but his start was pushed back when the game on the 22nd was canceled due to rain. Choi Sung-young, who started the game on the 23rd, will take the mound for SSG.
Lee Jae-hak started six games this season, going 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA, before suffering a metatarsal fracture on June 22 against the LG Twins when he was hit by Moon Bo-kyung’s pitch.
He recovered, rehabbed and got a taste of action in a second-team game on July 17. He pitched four innings with three hits, three walks, and two runs.
This is good news for NC, which lost Koo Chang-mo, Choi Sung-young, and Lee Jae-hak to string injuries in the month of June.
Left-hander Choi Sung-young was diagnosed with an orbital fracture after being hit in the face by Moon Bo-kyung’s hit against LG on June 20, and returned to the first team on June 9.
Choi hasn’t picked up a win in his two games since returning, but he has pitched well with a 2.79 ERA in 9⅔ innings.
“If our domestic starters had shown stability (so far), we would have had a longer winning streak and fewer losses,” NC Dinos manager Kang Myung-ho told reporters at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 22. “With Sung-young and Jae-hak coming in, I think our domestic starters will stabilize and we will be on the rise.”
In the meantime, Song Myung-ki, who has been running the starting rotation, will go back to the bullpen.
“In terms of pitching, Song Myung-ki is better than Shin Min-hyuk, but Shin Min-hyuk doesn’t seem to be a bullpen guy, so we made the adjustment,” Kang explained.
Meanwhile, he gave a passing grade to new foreign pitcher Tanner Tully, who earned his KBO debut after two games on the 20th.
“He’s a pitcher who has stability in his game,” Kang said, “and if he can recover his top velocity, which is 1-2 kilometers per hour off, he’ll be more effective with his changeup.”
Tanner topped out at 145 kilometers per hour while pitching six innings with seven hits, one walk, four strikeouts and three runs (one earned) against the Doosan Bears on Tuesday. 안전카지노사이트