Samsung’s foreign pitcher Connor Seabold turned in a cool ‘reversal of fortune’.
Conor started the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League away game against SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Saturday, holding the opposing bats to four hits and three runs (two earned) over seven innings to lead Samsung to a 12-4 victory. Samsung avenged a loss the day before. 24 wins (1 tie, 18 losses) on the season. First win over SSG in five games this season.
Samsung manager Park Jin-man, who met with the media before the game, was expecting to see the “No. 1 pitcher” he had hoped for in Connor. Connor, who was highly anticipated when he signed as an active big leaguer, had a 2-3 record with a 4.76 ERA in nine appearances before this game. However, his innings and pitches left something to be desired. In his last nine starts, he had only one quality start (6+ innings, 3 earned runs or less). His pitches also left something to be desired. His 3.18 walks per nine innings ranks 21st among pitchers in regulation. Park said, “My pitches are good, but my control is always an issue. Sometimes there’s a big difference between balls and strikes, which is why I throw a lot of pitches. I think the key is how similar you throw in the strike zone,” Park explained.
Park chose Lee Byung-heon as the catcher to partner with Connor on this day. The reason for resting Kang Min-ho was Connor’s pitches. “There’s a big difference between his pitches and strikes,” Park said. I thought his unstable delivery might be affecting his knees. I always saw him flying around,” Park lamented.
Connor was worried. But he made Park smile with a different pitch. The seven innings were Connor’s most in a single KBO game. His previous best was six innings (one earned run) on March 23 against Suwon KT. Throwing a total of 94 pitches, Connor effectively shut down the opposing batters with a heavy fastball that touched up to 150 mph and a mix of sliders, sweepers, changeups, and forkballs. He walked two and struck out eight. It was his second straight game with eight strikeouts, following his last start against the NC on the 10th. It was the kind of performance Samsung had hoped for from its No. 1 starter.
Coach Park said after the game, “Connor pitched his best game of the season, effectively shutting down the opposing bats until the seventh inning, laying the foundation for a promising eighth inning. If he maintains his aggressive pitching pattern in his next 메이저토토사이트 start, we can expect good results.” Park was pleased with Connor’s turnaround.
“Before we started the game today, I talked to Byung-heon Lee about how we were going to run the game. Every hitter has their own tendencies, so you have to have a different approach, but I think basically being aggressive with my pitches led to good results today,” he smiled. “After I came down in the sixth inning, I checked my pitch count and I knew I could go into the seventh inning. I think I pitched aggressively and that’s why I was able to go seven innings.” ”I’m going to try to pitch as well as I can (going forward). I’m going to try to pitch as well as I can (in the future),” he concluded.
Samsung’s bats, which had been struggling of late, came alive. In particular, they pounded the opposing mound with three cannons, including Lee Sung-kyu’s game-winning home run in the eighth inning. In the ninth inning, the offense scored six runs to decide the game. “Kim Young-woong, Ryu Ji-hyeok, Lee Sung-kyu, and Kim Heon-gon came to the plate with a lot of concentration and made hitting pitches that changed the atmosphere in an instant,” Park praised. Incheon = Jung Se-young