KT’s fifth-year sidearm pitcher Lee Sun-woo, 23, was given a second chance to start. Another submarine pitcher, Lee Sun-woo, was selected to fill the starting spot vacated by homegrown ace Ko Young-pyo to rest.
Lee was announced as the starter against Hanwha in Daejeon on Aug. 18. With Ko Young-pyo skipping one rotation on rest, ending with the Suwon NC on Dec. 12, KT manager Lee Kang-cheol decided to give Lee a chance to start.
Lee, who was selected by KT with the 61st overall pick in the 2019 second round (7th overall) out of Yushin, has a 3-1 record with a 3.94 ERA in 24 games (32 innings) in three seasons in the first team. He has been playing for KT again this season after serving in the military.
After being called up in May, he spent 70 days in the first team until mid-July. He went 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 games. In 28 1/3 innings, he struck out 22 and walked just six.
He also had one start. On June 10, he took a loss against Suwon Kiwoom, giving up five runs on nine hits (one home run) in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He gave up a grand slam to Kim Hye-sung in the second inning, but made it through the fifth without allowing another run.
In the second-tier Futures League this year, he went 2-2 with one save and a 2.08 ERA in eight games, including a complete game shutout in his most recent outing. He tossed nine innings of three-hit ball with one walk and four strikeouts against Samsung in a Futures League game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on March 13. Threw a total of 98 pitches, with 70 strikes and 28 balls. Used a changeup (52), slider (25), and fastball (21), centered around a 141 mph two-seam.
Before the game against Hanwha on the 18th, manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “I’m curious to see what he’ll do. He threw a complete game in the last game. He said he lowered the velocity of his changeup by two or three kilometers to give it a different velocity (from his two-seam) and it worked well. “Their starter Moon Dong-ju is very good, but if Lee Sun-woo can stop him early on, it will be possible to fight late in the game,” he said.
Lee said, “It was effective to be aggressive (on the day of the no-hitter) and induce bunts and get quick outs. I’m grateful for the opportunity to start again today. I want to show that I can pitch confidently from the first pitch through my preparation at Futures. Futures coaches Jeon Byeong-doo and Yeo Byeol-yeol encouraged me to just pitch with confidence. I gained confidence that I can throw my pitches from the first pitch. I will show my confidence on the mound.”안전놀이터
Meanwhile, KT’s starting lineup was Kim Min-hyuk (left fielder), Choi Jae-dae (center fielder), Hwang Jae-gyun (third baseman), Anthony Alford (designated hitter), Lee Ho-yeon (second baseman), Kim Jun-tae (catcher), Oh Yoon-seok (first baseman), Ahn Chi-young (right fielder), and Jang Jun-won (shortstop). Catcher Jang Sung-woo and shortstop Kim Sang-soo were rested. Lee Kang-cheol said, “We’ve climbed a lot in the standings, but now we have to pay attention to injury management. We need to take as many winnable games as we can, but we don’t want to push the players too hard. We don’t want to have any injuries right now,” Lee emphasized.