There is one player that KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-cheol praises every time he opens his mouth these days. It’s the clearer Son Dong-hyun. “His ball is the best”, “He has the strongest card” and so on.

Son was selected as the 21st pick in the third round of the 2019 KBO draft, joined the commercial baseball team in March 2021 and was released at the end of September last year. He returned to the first team this year. In 64 games and 73⅔ innings, he posted an 8-5 record, 15 holds, one save and a 3.42 ERA. Reached double digits in holds for the first time in his career. He is the team’s second-leading hold. Helped KT to a second-place finish in the regular season and an outright playoff appearance.

First appearance in the postseason. Became a fixture in the best-of-three series. Played in all three games of the best-of-five playoff series against the NC Dinos. Earned one save in four innings in which he allowed two hits, no walks and struck out two.

Entered the game in the fifth inning of Game 1 on March 30 trailing 8-1. He pitched a scoreless inning and gave up 16 pitches. The team lost 5-9. In Game 2 on March 31, he came to the mound in the sixth inning trailing 0-3. He threw two consecutive perfect innings in which he did not allow a run on two hits and threw 16 pitches. KT lost the game 3-2, making it two losses in a row and putting them in danger of being eliminated from the series. Son Dong-hyun said: “I want the team to win because I can do anything. The team just has to win,” he affirmed.토토사이트

He finally smiled in the third game on Matchday 2. Son entered in the seventh inning with a 3-0 lead. He pitched a scoreless inning, struck out three and threw 12 pitches. A picture-perfect jump shot by veteran second baseman Park Kyung-soo and a Hail Mary by third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun gave Son a boost. KT took the first win in the series 3-0.

“It’s a big difference from the first win in the regular season,” Son Dong-hyun said. It feels really good,” he said, adding, “I felt better with the ball than in Games 1 and 2 because I pitched in a winning situation. I want to do well in Game 4 (on Game 3) when we’re ahead.” “It was important to not let the leadoff hitter get on base,” he said of the Yankees’ defense in Game 3, “and I saw a slow dive by (Park) Kyung-soo, and that was so cool. I was screaming from the mound,” he said, adding, “My seniors usually take good care of me.”

Every game he is praised by his manager. “After the last game of the regular season (Oct. 10), I had about three weeks to prepare. I rested well and trained hard,” he said, adding: “I also ate well because my mother cooked at home. “Since the regular season, I’ve been working with my coaches to improve my technique and that seems to have rubbed off on me, which shows on the mound,” he added.

A positive attitude Looking ahead to the postseason, Son said, “Every day before I go to bed, I think about it and laugh because I’m so excited. I’m not a nervous person, so I’m not worried,” he said, adding, “I always play better when it’s cold, so I’ve always done well in spring training.”

He even enjoys the weight of fall baseball, “The bigger the crowd, the better. I like pitching in front of a lot of people, it’s fun,” he said, adding, “I was hoping to make the postseason squad, but I’m so glad I get to play every game.”

“Going into Game 3 with two losses, I thought maybe I was feeling some pressure, but when I got on the mound, I didn’t feel that way at all, I just thought, ‘I think we’re going to win this game,'” he said.

Continuing a strong regular season In the NCAAs alone this year, he had an ERA of zero. In nine games and 11 innings, he allowed just one (unearned) run. “I knew about that record,” Son said. But I think I would have done well against any team because the ball is good now. We don’t want to allow any more runs.

KT hopes to reach the Korean series. There’s only one way to get there. They have to win game 4 on the 3rd (Changwon) and game 5 on the 5th (Suwon). In the history of best-of-three playoffs, only twice out of 17 instances has a team lost the first two games of a best-of-five series and then won three straight games to advance to the Korean series (excluding the 1999-2000 and 1995-2008-2021 doubleheaders)