Did Hanwha coach Carlos Subero’s heart work for Nam Ji-min?
Hanwha Eagles starter Nam Ji-min recorded his first quality start (QS) of the season in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against the LG Twins held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 22nd.
Coach Subero had a lot of worries before the game. Moon Dong-ju, who was scheduled to start on the 23rd, was excluded from the rotation for rest, and a new starting pitcher was needed. But he wasn’t sure. If Nam Ji-min can’t hold out in the game on the 22nd, the bullpen will inevitably be consumed more, and in that case, ‘Bullpen Day’ on the 23rd could not be guaranteed.
Director Subero also conveyed his wish, saying, “I hope there is not a lot of bullpen consumption.” In other words, I wanted Nam Ji-min to take responsibility for as many innings as possible.
Could Nam Ji-min have the heart of director Subero? He achieved QS with 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts and 2 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings. It took only 82 balls to reach QS. It was also Hanwha’s third QS after Jang Min-jae and Moon Dong-ju.
It is true that I was anxious. Nam Ji-min played an active part in the KIA Tigers match, which was the first starting game of this season, with 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts and no runs in 5 innings. He played the role 100% as Birch Smith’s replacement starter. However, he collapsed with 0.1 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk and 7 runs (7 earned) against kt wiz.
Nam Ji-min had a lot of ups and downs in his performance, so he could not guarantee his performance in the difficult LG match. However, Nam Ji-min overcame the crisis in the 1st and 2nd episodes, continued his good fight from the 3rd episode, and eventually fought hard until the 6th episode.
Nam Ji-min faced a crisis with no bases loaded in the first inning. After being hit by Hong Chang-ki, he walked Moon Seong-joo and hit Kim Hyun-soo, putting him in danger of losing a lot of runs. However, he minimized his concessions with Ya Su-jin’s fee. He allowed one run on an infield hit by Joo-Hyun Jung, but struck out Austin Dean and hit both Bo-Kyung Moon and Dong-Won Park.
In the second inning, he was hit by lead batter Seo Geon-chang. Afterwards, he caught Park Hae-min with a fly ball, but was attacked again by Hong Chang-ki and Kim Hyun-soo and lost an extra point. Nam Ji-min threw 38 balls until the second inning, and the number of pitches was not small.
However, Nam Ji-min showed a different side from episode 3. He silenced everything except for a walk to lead batter Park Dong-won in the 4th inning. He did not receive a single hit.
His highest speed was 151 km and his average speed was 148 km. His fastball control was fantastic, and he threw a slider and a curveball in addition to cooking LG batters. 스포츠토토
Hanwha was able to consume as few bullpen cards as possible thanks to Nam Ji-min’s performance. Only Kim Ki-joong, Kang Jae-min, and Kim Bum-soo came forward. With Monday’s break ahead, Sunday’s game allowed him to give his all.
The problem was the batter. They failed to score a single point and were blocked by the LG mound and lost 0-3. With Nam Ji-min’s performance and the bullpen’s good pitching, we were able to prepare for the game on the 23rd better than expected, but it was painful to allow the losing series.