The Samsung Lions and the Hanwha Eagles, who were at the bottom of the league last season, are aiming for a dark horse position this year based on their conflicting team colors. The transfer players, who joined throughout the winter, are also reporting good news every day at the spring camp site.
The Samsung Lions and the Hanwha Eagles tied at the Akama Stadium in Okinawa, Japan, by a score of 5:5 in a spring camp practice match on Wednesday. The team put in six and seven pitchers, respectively, including the starting pitcher, but failed to reach the conclusion within regular innings.
The two teams ended in a tie, but details were encouraging to both teams. On the Samsung side, new faces displayed outstanding performance. Choi Sung-hoon, who joined Samsung through the second draft, and free agent duo Lim Chang-min and Kim Jae-yoon blocked three innings without allowing any points. Lee Ho-seong, who has emerged as a candidate for the fifth starting pitcher in his second year as a pro, pitched as the second pitcher after Conor Seabold (three runs in two innings), and allowed only one run in three innings.
Hanwha didn’t sit idle, either. The batters showed off their power by firing a total of three cannonballs. Not only Noh Si-hwan, who won two home runs and RBIs in the previous year, but also Ahn Chi-hong, a transfer player, and Ha Joo-seok, who played as a substitute, did so. Prior to the game, attention was focused on the bullpen. Ryu Hyun-jin started pitching practice for the second time since joining the team. Working with catcher Lee Jae-won, who was also from Incheon and joined the pro team, he threw 60 pitches, up 15 from three days ago.
The two teams also experienced the debacle of baseball in the fall last year. Samsung ranked eighth and the Hanwha Eagles ranked ninth. It was poor performance with a reason. According to KB Report, a statistics website, Samsung ranked the lowest in ERA among relief pitchers last year. Hanwha ranked last in OPS and ninth in ERA among starting pitchers.
This led to an aggressive stove league. By bringing in An Chi-hong, the Hanwha Eagles strengthened its batting lineup and the central infield, and defeated Jang Min-jae. The highlight was the recruitment of Ryu Hyun-jin. After going all in to reinforce the bullpen, Samsung brought together Lim Chang-min, Kim Jae-yoon, and Oh Seung-hwan.
As the spring camp, which has lasted for more than three weeks, is nearing its end, the two teams will likely show their best performance in games. The Samsung Lions will play the Lotte Giants on Wednesday and the Hanwha Eagles will play the KT Wiz on Wednesday.
BY: 토토사이트