After a nine-game winning streak from late August to early September, KIA fell into a season-high seven-game losing streak. The crisis came with the injury of starting shortstop Park Chan-ho (28).
Kia has lost seven straight games, from Samsung Electronics in Daegu on Nov. 12 to Hanwha in Daejeon on Nov. 21. It’s the team’s longest losing streak this season and the biggest crisis in the middle of the top-five battle. Fifth-place SSG is in the hunt for sixth place with one game in hand thanks to a sharp decline in September, but the long losing streak is taking KIA down with it.
The collapse of the starting pitching staff during the seven-game losing streak has caused the team’s ERA to soar into the seven-run range (7.60), but the absence of Park Chan-ho also stands out. Coincidentally, the seven-game losing streak began on the day he was injured. Park tore the ligament in his left fourth finger while sliding head-first into first base after hitting a grounder to shortstop in the fifth inning of a game against Samsung Electronics on April 12. The initial diagnosis was that he would need three weeks of rehabilitation.
Kim Do-young started three consecutive games at shortstop after Park Chan-ho’s absence, but his defense was shaky. In the sixth inning of the 17th game against Doosan in Gwangju, he missed Park Joon-young’s ordinary grounder and made a throwing error. From the 18th game against Doosan, Kim Do-young returned to third base and Kim Kyu-sung was moved to shortstop.
However, Kim also made a big mistake in defense. Against Hanwha in Daejeon on the 21st, Kim Gyu-sung hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning, but in the bottom of the inning, he made a ridiculous error on defense. With no outs and runners on first and third, Kim took a throw from second baseman Kim Sun-bin, who caught Lee Do-yoon’s grounder to force out the runner at first, but the ball slipped out of his hand as he tried to throw to first. As the ball rolled toward the right foul line, the runner, Lee Do-yoon, sprinted past first and second to third base.
Lee’s hit was a slow grounder that was very difficult to turn into a double play. Given Lee’s power, there was no need to throw to first base, but a silly error allowed two bases at once. After losing two more runs after Kim Kyu-sung’s error, KIA gave up a five-run big inning in the second inning alone and fell behind Hanwha 8-14.
[OSEN=Dae-sun Lee] KIA Park Chan-ho. 2023.09.03 /sunday@osen.co.kr
[OSEN=Dae-Sun Kim] KIA’s Park Chan-ho. 2023.09.03 /sunday@osen.co.kr
As the losing streak stretches to seven, Park’s absence is becoming more noticeable. Park has emerged as a Golden Glove candidate at shortstop this season after batting .740 with 3 doubles (125-for-414), 3 home runs, 48 RBIs, 64 runs scored, 29 stolen bases and a .740 OPS in 117 games. He is fifth in the league in on-base percentage (.343) and has good range at shortstop. He has 14 errors, but they were committed in the first half of his career (11 in 76 games), and he has been more consistent in the second half (3 in 41 games).
Park Chan-ho didn’t leave the roster after his injury. The injured finger is on his left hand, so he can still play some defense and run the bases. He made substitute appearances in the 8th and 9th innings against Gwangju Doosan and LG on April 18-19. On the 18th, he started batting practice to make a full recovery.
On the 20th, he was examined again at a designated hospital and was told that the inflammation in his finger ligaments had subsided and his condition had improved significantly. His recovery was faster than expected. Kia manager Kim Jong-guk said, “There is still some pain, but not enough to prevent him from batting. I think he should be able to bat next week after checking by this week.”
Park’s return is even more urgent given the team’s situation, with Na Sung-beom out for the season with a devastating hamstring injury. His absence has left a bigger hole than expected. KIA still has a league-high 23 games left to play, and there’s a lot for Chan-ho to do in the offense.토토사이트
[OSEN=Sung-Rak Kim] KIA’s Park Chan-ho high-fives coach Kim Jong-guk. 2023.08.25 / ksl0919@osen.co.kr