The teams for fall baseball are all set. However, the standings are not yet finalized. There’s still a lot of battling to be done until the end of the regular season. Not for the postseason, but for now.메이저사이트
On the 14th, Doosan punched its ticket to the fall baseball season with a 3-2 win over LG in Jamsil. With a three-game lead over sixth-place KIA, the team is back in fall baseball for the first time in two years, regardless of the outcome of the remaining games. The team jumped from ninth place last year to the postseason.
Although all the teams have been decided for the fall baseball season, it will take until the final game to confirm the ranking. With Doosan’s win on Thursday, SSG, NC, and Doosan are tied for third place with a .532 winning percentage. SSG has 74 wins, 65 losses, and three ties with two games left, while NC and Doosan have 74 wins, 65 losses, and two ties with three games left.
SSG dropped to third place with a 3-5 loss at Samsung Electronics on Thursday. They lost the chance to secure third place and gain a direct semi-playoff berth. SSG and Doosan will play a fateful matchup on April 16-17. Doosan will play its last game against Jamsil rival LG on the 15th before preparing to face SSG. NC will play its final home game of the regular season against Samsung on the 15th and wrap up the regular season with a two-game series on the road against Kia, a team that has been competing in fall baseball until the very end.
The KBO’s current postseason system favors the top teams in the regular season. They can take a breather after the regular season ends. The difference between third and fourth place is huge. The third-place team goes directly to the semi-playoffs, while the fourth-place team has to play the fifth-place team for the wild card. While the fourth-place team starts with one game in hand and only needs one win to finish, the wild-card game will use up their best starter. The fifth-place team needs to win two games. Teams in third place and directly into the semifinals can save their aces for Game 1.
However, the three teams fighting for third place will not be able to prepare their starting rotations in time for the Wild Card Game or the first round of the semi-finals. They are forced to use up their aces in the final stretch of the regular season to secure third place. SSG can’t save their aces for third place
SSG will have its entire one-two punch available for the final series against Doosan on April 16-17. Roenis Elias, who pitched against NC on the 8th, and Kim Kwang-hyun, who pitched against KIA on the 10th, are likely to start the final two games against Doosan in the rotation order. They have plenty of time to rest. It would be nice to be able to save one of them, but since Doosan is a direct competitor for the top spot, one bad game can make a difference in the standings, so both players are expected to start.
Against SSG, Doosan is keeping 16-day ace Raul Alcantara on the bench for now. However, Alcantara was forced to leave the game against Lotte in Jamsil on July 7 (4 runs in 3 innings) due to a back sprain. It cannot be ruled out that Alcantara’s physical condition will not be normal. His status for the 17th is also unknown. Left-handed ace Brandon threw 94 pitches in seven innings of one-run ball against LG on Thursday. His regular season is effectively over. Kwak Bin, who pitched against KIA on the 13th, also finished the regular season. The team will likely go with a lesser starter on the 17th, including Choi Seung-yong and Choi Won-joon. In terms of starting matchups, Doosan is at a disadvantage.
The pressure may be less for NC, which faces KIA, a team that was eliminated from the fall baseball season. However, on the 16th, the ’20-win, 20-strikeout’ super ace Eric Peddy will take the mound to try to gain an edge in the standings. On the 17th, Shin Min-hyuk will take the mound. If it comes down to a wild-card game, the team is preparing foreign left-hander Tanner Tully to start Game 1.
For now, all three teams are praying that they don’t fall into the wild-card game. No fifth-place team has ever made it to the semi-finals since the Wild Card Decider was held, so being fifth would be a waste. If they do go straight to the semifinals, which start on the 23rd, they’ll have all their aces ready for Game 1. That’s why all three teams’ aces start on the 16th. They can pitch Game 1 of the semifinals on six days’ rest.
The question is, which team will be able to use all of their aces in the last three days of the regular season and go straight to the semifinals?