In the first half, he started 17 games and recorded 13 quality starts 안전놀이터(more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs). Inning digestion is 103.2 innings, which is 6 innings per game. What’s even more surprising is that he only gave up 9 walks with his sophisticated pitches. This is the story of KT Wiz pitcher Ko Young-pyo (32).
KT Koh Young-pyo started in an away game against the Kiwoom Heroes held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 13th, striking out 9 in 7 innings, striking out no runs, and recording his 8th win (5 losses) of the season.
Koh Young-pyo, who met with the reporters after the game, said with a smile, “My team and I were always weak when we came to Gocheok, but it feels good to win like this.”
On this day, he broke the record for the most strikeouts (7) in a season by thinning out 9 strikeouts. Koh Young-pyo said, “I always want to strike out a lot. But not greedy. I throw a changeup to induce a ground ball, but when it lands low, it seems that the opposing batters swing wrong.”
Up until the beginning of the season, Ko Young-pyo only managed to strike out 2-3 even if he pitched 7 innings. Koh Young-pyo said, “At the beginning of this year, the strikeout rate dropped a lot. His restraints also fell. I was disappointed with those parts, but I’m satisfied with a lot of strikeouts in the last few games.” Koh Young-pyo struck out 30 in 33.2 innings over the last 5 games. Ko Young-pyo, who recorded 13 quality starts in 17 games, said, “This part is also satisfactory.”
He was also satisfied with the fact that he gave up only 9 walks this season. “It is a good record,” he said. He intends not to give up a walk as much as possible in the future. Rather, I threw the ball to hit the hitters, so I don’t think I gave a lot of walks.”
KIA starter Lee Eui-ri is recording the disgrace of being the leader in this category with 62 walks in 16 games. Following that, SSG starter Park Jong-hoon gave up 44 walks in 13 games. KT starter Wes Benjamin played 17 games and recorded 9 wins (3 losses) in the season, but gave up 31 walks. Among the same starting pitchers, Koh Young-pyo’s record stands out by far. Koh Young-pyo explained, “I originally dislike walks and walks, but it seems to have decreased a lot as the ball control has improved.”
Koh Young-pyo, who attended the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in Japan ahead of this season, consistently showed a stable appearance unlike other starting pitchers. He said, “I’ve been in the full-time starting rotation for the past two years, and I’ve been very tired. For that part he cared a lot. He did well in his strength training in preparation for the WBC. Then, his physical condition rose again.” Koh Young-pyo broke 100 innings that day and reached 100 innings for the 5th consecutive season. It is the 63rd record in KBO history.
On the other hand, KT finished the first half in 7th place (37 wins, 41 losses, 2 draws) thanks to Ko Young-pyo’s good fight. It is only 2.5 games away from 4th place NC.