The ‘Yang Eui-ji effect’ expected by the Doosan Bears is coming out without regret after 3 games of the season. If this continues, it is expected that the investment will continue to be worthwhile.
Doosan won 1-0 in a home game against NC Dinos in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 4th. With this, Doosan recorded 2 wins and 1 loss for the season.
Among the Doosan hitters on this day, Yang Eui-ji (36) was by far the best player. Appearing as the team’s fifth hitter and catcher, he went 4 at-bats, 1 hit and 3 walks, getting on base in all at-bats. In particular, the third walk obtained at the end of the 8th inning became a decisive clue to the final score.
Yang Eui-ji, who appeared as the third batter in the inning, got on base by picking out a walk to NC’s fourth pitcher Shim Chang-min (30). Then, the next batter, Kim In-tae (29), attempted to steal second base by surprise. At this time, Kim In-tae recorded a hit that fell in the middle of the right, and Yang Eui-ji dug into the home without looking back as the center fielder’s mistake overlapped.
This one point became the final point. In the beginning of the ninth inning, the finisher Hong Geon-hee (31), who was the finisher in defense, treated all three batters of the NC with criminal hits, and the game ended as it was.
After the game, Yang Eui-ji said, “Coach Young-min Ko told me to try it once.” He explained, “Since there is a breaking ball (can come) with 2 strikes, he asked me to go there, so I jumped boldly. (Kim) In-tae hit well, so I was able to come home.”
Yang Eui-ji, who said he ran without seeing the batted ball, said, “I kept looking straight ahead.
The true value of Yang Eui-ji was also revealed in defense. The starter for Doosan that day was Kwak Bin (24), who was selected for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. In his first appearance of the season, Gwak Bin made good use of his changeup, slider, and curveball with a fastball speeding up to 152 km/h, recording 2 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts and no runs in 7 innings. It was his pitching that drew everyone’s admiration, even though he did not become a winning pitcher. 스포츠토토
After the game, Kwak Bin raised Yang Eui-ji. He said, “Yang Eui-ji senior said, ‘The curve is really good,’ so I gave out a lot of curve signs.” It is to figure out the condition of the pitcher and take the ball mix according to it.
It even made me realize how to deal with batters that I didn’t know. Kwak Bin said, “I didn’t throw a changeup to a right-handed hitter originally. At the same time, he said, “I didn’t know it because Senior Will hadn’t been with me for a long time, so he kept signing since the national team practice game.” Kwak Bin expressed his gratitude, saying, “Lee Ji-sun helped me to find something I couldn’t throw because I wasn’t confident.”