One of the ‘incidents’ that changed the ranking game ahead of the opening of the 2022 KBO League was major leaguer Kim Gwang-hyun’s SSG Landers U-turn. After the end of the 2019 season, Kim Gwang-hyun, who entered the Major League St. Louis through posting, was unable to renew the contract ahead of the 2022 season due to Corona 19. Kim Gwang-hyun returned to Korea after signing a super-large multi-year contract with SSG worth 15.1 billion won over 4 years. 

Last year, Kim Gwang-hyun took the mound in 28 games and showed off an activity worthy of his reputation with an average ERA of 13 wins and 3 losses and an ERA of 2.13 and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.578. The WAR (based on the KB Report), which represents the contribution to victory compared to substitute players, was high at 5.21. 

SSG suffered ups and downs on the mound due to the injury and sluggishness of foreign pitcher Nova, and the sluggish performance of Moon Seung-won and Park Jong-hoon, who returned from rehabilitation. However, thanks to the steady digestion of the starting rotation by ace Kim Gwang-hyun, the first regular season wire-to-wire championship in the history of the KBO League can be achieved. SSG defeated Kiwoom Heroes 4 wins and 2 losses in the Korean Series, achieving its first overall victory after taking over the club.

Ahead of the opening of the 2023 season, SSG’s goal was, of course, set to a combined two-game winning streak. However, there was also a cautious opinion that it would be difficult for SSG to make an overwhelming move like last year. It was because there was no special reinforcement such as recruiting an outside free agent last winter, and the main players including veteran Kim Gwang-hyun were one year older.  토토사이트

Kim Gwang-hyun has appeared in 4 games this season and is recording 2 wins and no losses. However, he has poor detailed indicators with an average ERA of 5.00 and an OPS of 0.871. The average home run per 9 innings last year was 0.52, the best in the KBO league since 2015. He demonstrated an ability to hold back home runs while using the hitter-friendly Literary Stadium as his home. However, his home runs increased to 1.50 this year, nearly three times that of last year. The number of walks per 9 innings more than doubled from 2.34 last year to 5.50 this year, and it is difficult to hide the number of pitches. An increase in walks is directly related to an increase in the number of pitches and a decrease in the ability to digest innings. Kim Gwang-Hyun’s quality start (6 innings or more, 3 earned runs or less) is limited to 1 game.