‘Ace’ Eric Peddy (30), who had been giving NC Dinos a hard time as his pitching was repeatedly postponed, finally completed his practice pitching without any problems. The first appearance in the postseason that everyone has been waiting for is also approaching.
An NC official told Star News on the 27th, “Peddy threw 43 bullpen pitches today, and there were no unusual incidents.” On the same day, NC coach Kang In-kwon, who was leading training for the playoffs at Changwon NC Park, also said, “(Peddy) will check his condition through bullpen pitching again today. If nothing happens, he will pitch (in the first game of the playoffs).” reported. It’s not unusual for there to be no problem after bullpen pitching, but if the main character is Peddie, the story is different.
NC, which finished the pennant race in 4th place, continues to perform better than expected in this fall baseball season. They won 14-9 in the wild card game against the Doosan Bears and advanced to the semi-playoffs. Next, they succeeded in an upset by winning all three games in the semi-playoffs against SSG Landers, who were one step higher in the regular season. It has been 15 years since the Samsung Lions beat the Lotte Giants in 2008 to achieve a sweep in the best-of-five semi-playoffs.
However, the starting lineup did not contribute much. Foreign pitcher Tanner Turley, who pitched in Game 1 of the wild card game and Game 3 of the semi-playoffs, collapsed by allowing 5 runs in 4 innings and 5 runs in 2 innings, respectively. Shin Min-hyuk, the starter in the first game of the semi-playoffs, contributed to the team’s victory by throwing 5⅔ scoreless innings, but starting pitcher Song Myeong-ki in the second game pitched three scoreless innings and then went down in the fourth inning after being hit by a two-run gun from Hanyu Island and not getting a single out.
It was Pil Seung-jo who filled this gap. Left-hander Kim Young-gyu pitched 3⅔ innings in 3 semi-playoff games, recording 1 win, 2 holds, and an ERA of 0. Right-hander Ryu Jin-wook, who recorded 22 holds in the regular season, also appeared in all three games and recorded three holds. He gave up one run in three innings but never gave up a lead. Coach Kang explained, “During the regular season, even if the pitcher was a little shaken, we kept going thinking about the next game, etc., but in the postseason, we are replacing him quickly.”
However, the biggest problem with NC’s starting lineup is not Tanner’s sluggishness or the somewhat weak native starters. The point is that Ace Peddie is not able to throw a single pitch. NC is continuing a difficult schedule despite consecutive wins as the player who should be the center of attention is unable to play.
Peddie can be said to be the best pitcher in the KBO league this season. After pitching 180⅓ innings in 30 games during the regular season, he achieved a record of 20 wins, 6 losses, 209 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.00. Although he missed the simultaneous achievement of 20 wins and 1 run average ERA, which was only achieved 6 times in history by ⅓ innings, the 20 wins and 200 strikeouts season was the first record in 37 years since Haitai Sun Dong-yeol in 1986. In addition, he became the 7th pitcher in history to achieve the triple crown, something only three pitchers, including Dong-yeol Dong-yeol (1986, 1989, 1990, 1991), Hyun-jin Ryu (2006), and Seok-min Yoon (2011), had achieved.
With these performances, Peddie became the 10th winner of the Choi Dong-won Award, given to the league’s best player, and is also likely to win the KBO Golden Glove Award in the pitcher category. This is a score that can even aim for MVP. In a survey conducted by Star News last August on 50 players from 10 clubs to celebrate its 19th anniversary (September 1), more than half of the respondents answered the question, ‘If you were to vote for MVP this season, who would you pick?’ 32 people (64%) were selected.
As of the 28th, Peddie has been ‘closed’ for over 10 days. Peddie appeared as a starting pitcher in the Gwangju KIA game on the 16th. Peddie, who had 5⅔ innings, allowed 3 hits, no walks, 5 strikeouts, and no runs, was hit on the right forearm by Ko Jong-wook’s batted ball with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th inning. Peddie, who was sitting on the mound, was replaced by Kim Young-gyu. Upon examination, he was diagnosed with a simple bruise on his right forearm.
Due to his physical condition and pitching schedule, Peddie was not included in the wild card match, but he succeeded in joining the semi-playoffs. However, he failed to come up once in the series. Peddie pitched 19 pitches from the bullpen on the 22nd, when Game 1 was held, but complained of anxiety and did not appear in Game 2. Coach Kang initially announced Peddie as the starter for Game 3, but changed the starter to Tanner at a press conference after Game 2, saying, “I’m sorry for feeling like a liar.” Coach Kang said, “I was so sorry to the opposing team (SSG) that I delivered a message through the head coach.”짱구카지노 주소
Of course, it is a positive thing that the team won four consecutive postseason games without Peddy. After Game 3, catcher Kim Hyeong-jun said, “Of course, it’s good to have Peddie. But we showed that we can do it even without him. I think we were able to win three games in a row (semi-playoffs) because all the other players were strong and pitched well.” said. Still, it’s nice to see the addition of ‘Pedi’, a ‘man of the world’.
Peddie had been showing signs of discomfort and anxiety, but this did not appear in the pitch on the 27th. On this day, Peddie was seen entering the locker room with a bright expression. This can be seen as a sign that his condition has improved a lot.
Starting on the 30th, NC will play the best-of-five playoffs against KT Wiz, second place in the regular season. This season, NC faced KT and was slightly behind with 6 wins and 10 losses. Peddie had no success with 1 win and 2 losses in 3 games against KT this season, but his average ERA was 2.65. He pitched 17 innings and showed excellent pitching skills, striking out 23 times.