"Trying to win first place again. We're strong in fall." Kwak Bin, the fate of a "lone ace" who hides the sadness of separation
"Trying to win first place again. We're strong in fall." Kwak Bin, the fate of a "lone ace" who hides the sadness of separation
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He regained his ace form when he recovered his stamina. Kwak Bin (25) is restarting the "untouchable mode" as the Doosan Bears' lone ace.
Kwak Bin started the home game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 4th and threw 97 pitches in six innings, giving two hits, five strikeouts and no runs.
Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan also helped the team get off the mound with a 5-0 lead, and the bullpen also maintained the lead and won the game 6-3, securing its seventh win of the season (6 losses). The ERA was also lowered from 3.83 to 3.59.
Last year, he became an ace with 12-7 losses and ERA 2.90, and also played as an ace for the national team, and got off to a perfect start this season. In particular, in May, he became the KBO Monthly MVP (MVP) for the first time in two years since Ariel Miranda in October 2021 with four wins in five games and eight years since Yoo Hee-kwan in July 2016.
However, June drew a starkly different graph. Kwak was shaken by his ERA of 8.22 in three games, including allowing six runs in two consecutive games against the Hanwha Eagles and the Kiwoom Heroes. Kwak was later notified of his move to the second division.
"I think (Kwakbin) went too far. He was one of the three players who never skipped the rotation. He ran so hard," coach Lee Seung-yeop said on April 18. "He was so good. How hard it must have been. I wished my pitching coach gave me a break, but (Kwak)bin said it was okay. When I thought about it while taking a day off, I thought that if I do not accumulate physical strength in time for the hot weather in summer, when it is more important than now, I may lose strength."
After a 10-day break, Kwak made a perfect comeback. After winning the game against SSG Landers with six scoreless innings on June 28, he explained the reason for his poor performance. "I was exhausted both physically and mentally. I felt pressure to perform to a certain extent in my team. I also thought to myself that it was time for me to get better performance in May because my performance was so good. 노래방알바
Kwak Bin, who was considered the strongest one-two punch in the league, was firmly in place amid the shaking of Raul Alcantara and Brandon Waddell due to their injuries and ups and downs. They came to their place, but Kwak Bin, who carried the burden alone, was upset.