This year, local clubs are struggling from the beginning of the season.
While the trend of post-season advancing teams in the metropolitan area, including the recent Korean Series, continues, SSG, LG, Kiwoom, and Doosan are leading the market this season, occupying the upper ranks.
From 2018 to 2022, only 6 of the 25 teams that reached the postseason in the last 5 years were local teams. The fall baseball market share is 24%. This means that the proportion of teams in the metropolitan area reaches a whopping 76%. The KBO League consists of 5 teams in the metropolitan area and 5 teams in the provinces. The strength of the metropolitan area has been going on for several years.
Looking at the rankings as of the 17th, after the second week of opening, the provincial team is the only NC in a tie for second place among the top five teams from 1st to 5th. The other 4 teams in the province are in 7th to 10th places. Lotte, Samsung, Hanwha, and KIA are in order. Among them, Lotte, Samsung, and Hanwha failed to make it to the postseason last year.
The last time a local team won the Korean Series was the 2017 KIA. That year, three regional teams, including KIA, Lotte, and NC, dominated the fall baseball stage.
What is the reason for the continued weakness of local teams? It’s not that they don’t invest, the game schedule isn’t unfavorable, and the fans’ support is neither insufficient nor excessive compared to teams in the metropolitan area. The three foreign players, who are said to account for 30% of the team, are formed with the same rules, conditions, and infrastructure, but after the season, the performance of local teams lags behind.
Let’s look at the FA market for the last three years. KIA recruited Na Seong-beom, and Ace Yang Hyeon-jong returned from the United States after a year. Lotte brought in catcher Yoo Kang-nam last winter to solve a chronic problem. Hanwha added Chae Eun-seong, a right-hander, and Samsung brought Oh Jae-il two years ago.
Foreign players are also mostly talented. Lotte One-Two Punch Dan Strayley and Charlie Barnes are a proven duo. The same goes for Samsung David Buchanan and Albert Suarez. KIA Sean Anderson and Hanwha Birch Smith are also evaluated as having high-level skills. Samsung’s Jose Pirella, Lotte’s Jack Rex, and KIA’s Socrates Brito are batters who have experienced the KBO League and have renewed their contracts after receiving treatment of more than $1 million.
As of this day, the team’s average ERA is 6th with KIA (4.25), 8th with Hanwha (4.51), 9th with Samsung (5.34), and 10th with Lotte (6.47). The team batting average is Lotte (0.291) 2nd, Samsung (0.253) 5th, Hanwha (0.239) 9th, KIA (0.238) 10th. There is a difference in attack power, but the mound is unstable as all four teams. The total ERA of the four teams is 5.14, which is 1.7 points higher than the total of the other six teams, 3.44. This 스포츠토토 means that these four teams give an average of two more points per game. It is a sandcastle mound.
The starting ERA is KIA (3.88) 5th, Hanwha (4.58) 8th, Lotte (5.46) 9th, Samsung (5.73) 10th, and the bullpen ERA is Hanwha (4.45) 4th, Samsung (4.83) 6th, KIA (4.93) ranked 9th and Lotte (8.10) ranked 10th. For Lotte, the mound is a total mess.
He played 63 games until the 17th. It is 8.75% of the entire schedule. Looking at the rankings at the same time last year, Samsung, KIA, KT, NC, and Hanwha were in the order. Of these five teams, the two teams that reached the postseason were KIA and KT.
We have just left the starting line. The game can change at any time. But you need a trigger, and you have to have a hidden power. The regional 4 teams don’t notice that.