Raul Alcantara (31, Doosan Bears), the ’20-win pitcher’ we used to know, is back perfectly. He showed that now he doesn’t have to doubt anymore.
Alcantara started in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against the Hanwha Eagles held at Jamsil Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 2nd and pitched 3 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts and no runs in 7 innings.
The ace, who had been trusted by coach Lee Seung-yeop ever since the opening day, was sometimes shaken, but he tried to play the minimum role as a starter, and on this day, as a starter with calculations, he kept the team’s victory.
Although he is a pitcher who does not need verification, having won 20 wins three years ago, his performance in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) over the past two years has been somewhat disappointing. It’s not that he didn’t have concerns about whether he could perform as well as he did in the past.
He was dropped as a starter in the opening game, but collapsed with 4 runs in 4 innings. But since then it has gotten better. On the 26th of last month, after giving up 1 run in 6 innings against the Samsung Lions and taking the loss without support from the other line, coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “Even after yesterday’s game, the pitching coach told Alcantara, ‘It’s too bad, but don’t be heartbroken’, and he said it wasn’t that mindset and it was okay. He said, “He also has a very large-scale personality. All judgments will be made after the season, but looking at it now, he is not a pitcher that will collapse in an instant.” 메이저사이트
There was no crisis until the 5th episode on this day. In the first inning, it was finished in 8 pitches with a catch-up pitch, and in the second inning, he used a slider and a forkball as the deciding ball to catch 2 strikeouts and once again recorded a three-way offense. Even in the third and fourth innings, he did not allow a single batter to go on base.