Song Eun-beom, 80 million won instead of Oh Seung-hwan, would you have imagined it…Samsung's Decision, Prove It With Results
Song Eun-beom, 80 million won instead of Oh Seung-hwan, would you have imagined it…Samsung's Decision, Prove It With Results
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The Samsung Lions have made a decision. With the bold exception of veteran closer Oh Seung-hwan from the playoff entry, they have included the name of another veteran, Song Eun-beom, whom they hired last July to reinforce their bullpen.
Samsung coach Park Jin-man already mentioned several times that Oh Seung-hwan will be excluded from the roster while preparing for the playoffs. "It is practically hard to play in the playoffs. If we play well in the playoffs and go to the Korean Series, we will check our ball power and physical condition again," Park said.
Still, the reason why he said "no way" was because it was Oh Seung-hwan. Oh, who was born in 1982, has kept the mound at Samsung even though he was young. He signed a two-year free agent contract with Samsung for a total of 2.2 billion won (2.3 million U.S. dollars), and successfully extended his life as a player before this season. Considering the amount Samsung invested, Oh had to occupy a postseason entry, but Park cool-headedly erased Oh's name.
Oh went 3-9 with 27 saves, two holds, 55 innings and a 4.91 ERA in 58 games this year. It is true that he is the best closing pitcher in Korea with 427 saves in his career, but it was impossible to stop him. Oh recorded an ERA of 3.79 in 37 games in the first half, but he was very sluggish with an ERA of 7.41 in 21 games in the second half.
The postseason stage also requires experiences of veteran players. Samsung is challenging the Korean Series for the first time in nine years since 2015, and the only team that advanced to the postseason in nine years was in 2021, when it ranked second in the regular season. And three years later, Samsung is trying to recreate the glory of the dynasty by directly moving to the playoffs as second place this year.
Oh is also a relief pitcher who led the Samsung dynasty. Oh pitched in a total of 29 postseason games, recording 2-1 with 13 saves, 42 innings and an ERA of 1.71. There was a way to take Oh as a pillar of young pitchers with less experience in the postseason even if his ball power dropped a little, but Park kept his belief that he needed to have more ball power.
Oh Seung-hwan's veteran mission will be replaced by Song Eun-beom. Song Eun-beom was able to continue his professional career by successfully signing a surprise contract with Samsung in July for a total of 80 million won. Song was on the verge of ending his career after undergoing knee surgery during the 2021 season when he was with the LG Twins. Samsung reached out late to Song Eun-beom, who had been a wild man after receiving a release notice from LG after last season.
Song struck a chord with Park as he recorded two holds, nine ⅓ innings and an ERA of 1.08 in nine games for his team. Song posted 88-95 with 59 holds, 27 saves and an ERA of 4.55 in 689 games in the KBO. In the postseason, he pitched 47 ⅓ innings in 23 appearances, and posted four wins and three losses, two holds, one save and an ERA of 1.90. "In short-term games, ball power is important, and experience is important. Even if his ball power falls short, there are parts that he needs to control," Park said, referring to the use of Song. 메이저놀이터
Song boasts about his experience in the postseason as much as Oh. In 23 games, he pitched four games to three, one save, two holds, 47 ⅓ innings and an ERA of 1.90. He was very strong on big stages, and he also experienced fall baseball at LG in 2020.
Samsung had to agonize over variables such as Connor Seibold and Baek Jeong-hyun, who were sidelined due to injury ahead of the playoffs. Still, Park tried to do his best. The starting lineup will be centered on Denny Reyes and Won Tae-in, while the bullpen will likely lead by allowing Kim Jae-yoon to take the center stage. Can Park prove the reason for excluding Oh Seung-hwan through the results of the playoffs.