Is this how breakthrough hopes die: Injuries keep piling up? This is the story of the Samsung Lions.
Samsung added one more injury to its roster after the game against LG on April 6. It was foreign pitcher Albert Suarez, who started the game. He was injured almost at the start of the game and left the mound.
In the top of the first inning, with the score tied at 0-0, Suarez complained of pain in his left calf as he ran to cover first base on Kim Hyun-soo’s single to right.
Limping and complaining of pain, Suarez was eventually replaced by right-hander Lee Seung-hyun and taken to the hospital for further examination.
The game was not going to go well with the starting pitcher going down in the first inning. Samsung ultimately lost 4-7 and failed to complete the three-game sweep.
After the game, the results of Suarez’s examination came back. He was told that his left gastrocnemius (calf muscle) was damaged by about 12 centimeters. “He is expected to take about four weeks to recover,” a club official said.
This means we won’t see Suarez in August. The news comes as a blow to Samsung, which has been trying to rebound.
After being in last place since June 22, the team started to show signs of life in July. With a July win rate of 9 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses, the team posted a monthly win rate of over 5% for the first time since April. Suarez was a big part of the reason for this performance.
In three starts in July, Suarez went 2-0 with a zero earned run average. He didn’t allow a single run in 19 innings pitched, and his strong performance helped the team rebound.
Before his injury, he started 19 games, going 4-7 with a 3.92 ERA. Despite his low win total, he had 10 quality starts (6+ innings pitched and 3 earned runs or less). He’s been pitching well, but just hasn’t had much luck.
Despite the weakness of the domestic starting staff, the top three starters, David Buchanan and Tae-in Won, were stable. Add to that the return of veteran Baek Jung-hyun on July 30, and Samsung’s starting ERA in July was 3.00, the second-best among the 10 teams.
In August, the team continued its five-game winning streak and was on the verge of escaping the bottom of the standings, but suffered a major setback when Suarez went down. As of August 8, Samsung is sitting in 10th place without Kiwoom.
Samsung has been plagued by injuries to key players this season. Outfielders Kim Hyun-jun and Kim Dong-yup, and catchers Kim Jae-sung and Kim Tae-gun (now with KIA) were lost to injuries in April. Baek Jung-hyun was also sidelined for a month in late June with a sore left elbow, and center fielders Koo Ja-rook and Oh Jae-il suffered back-to-back hamstring injuries. In effect, this means that Samsung hasn’t played with a “full complement” of players this season.안전놀이터
With most of their hitters back from injury, this time they have a gap in their pitching staff. Samsung will now have over a month to fill Suarez’s void.
Behind him are Kim Dae-woo, Jang Pil-joon, and Yang Chang-seop, all of whom have starting experience. There’s also Heo Yoon-dong and Choi Ha-neul, who are in the midst of starting lessons at Futures.
The schedule is not favorable either. Samsung will play six consecutive away games from August 8-13. Their opponents are top five teams like Doosan and SSG. Samsung’s Go