Putting yesterday's fiery victory behind me, I racked my brains in the manager's office. I had to plan today's starting lineup.
After much deliberation, I decided to go with Choi Tae-won as the starter again. He had more upside than Song Young-shin or Ha Min-young.
To shore up the shaky starter, I needed to pick the lineup with care. Starting in September, the expanded roster allowed us to register up to 32 players in the first team instead of 27, and we could use up to 30 in games instead of 25—an increase of five each. Since we were short on starters, we leaned heavy on pitchers for the 4th and 5th spots.
Our first-team roster crammed in 17 pitchers: Pier Band, Van Hecken, Lee Ji-seung, Choi Tae-won, Han Hyun-ho, Ha Min-young, Song Young-shin, Jo Sang-hoon, Kim Hyun-se, Kim Woo-dae, Son Seung-hyuk, Lee Yang-hoon, Kim Min-cheol, Min Jeong-gil, Kim Hyeong-taek, Moon Hyun-seong, and Lee Min-sang.
The position players were trickier since our pool was so deep—we struggled not to overload it. We settled on 15: Kim Kang-jun, Kang Hyun-jun, Kim Seong-ha, Park Byung-hyun, Snyder, Seo Geon-cheol, Yoo Jun-han, Lee Geun-taek, Park Won-dong, Yoon Min-seok, Kim Seong-min, Go Jong-wook, Im Byung-yoon, Kim Hyeon-jae, and Kim Su-ji.
Seventeen pitchers and fifteen hitters—we were stacking the deck on the mound. As long as the starters held up, great; if they faltered, we'd patch it with quick hooks. Even our ace trio of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd starters couldn't win every time. But if the 4th and 5th collapsed, we could stumble right at the championship door.
In late innings lately, even Pier Band and Van Hecken had started tiring, giving up hits more often. We tried to let starters go deep in their rotations, but stamina dips in the second half were inevitable. At least they ate innings even when surrendering runs? That was our silver lining.
After announcing our lineup, I got the Eagles' in return. No big changes: Choi Haeng-jin was out, Jeong Seok-hyeon was in. Their starter? Talbot.
He was their best arm by far, and facing him now—when our starter was shaky—had me worried. Plus, this two-game set meant two-hour bus rides each way. Playing in Daejeon, no hotel; just bus it. For the top team, it felt a bit stingy. But what was done was done. We had to make the best of it.
On the bus to Daejeon, the players rested quietly. Only occasional snores broke the silence. Better they recharge fully, so I left them be and fired up my laptop to study game data.
Baseball was getting scientific these days—player stats analyzed like in MLB with sabermetrics and all. It wasn't fully adopted in Korea yet, just bits here and there, so I figured I should learn. With metrics on offense, defense, pitching... blending them with my Status Windows could make me even more effective. Baseball only got tougher the more you studied it.
[Game 2 of Eagles vs. Heroes at Daejeon Eagles Stadium in 2015 KBO is about to begin. Heroes have locked in the regular season title with a six-game win streak.]
[That's right. Heroes have grown even stronger since Manager Lee Jin-ho took over. That said, his pitching development and usage raise some questions.]
[As you mentioned, Heroes' starter today is Choi Tae-won—no wins yet, ERA at 6.94, on the high side.]
[Eagles counter with Talbot, their ace. Solid 3.65 ERA. He's the reason they're in the top-five race.]
[Now, the lineups. Home team Eagles first:]
1. Jeong Woo-geun (2B)
Starting Pitcher: Talbot
[Away team Heroes:]
1. Im Byung-yoon (RF)
Starting Pitcher: Choi Tae-won
[Heroes' lineup is powerhouse as ever. Key will be how long Talbot lasts.]
[Eagles' bats aren't pushovers either. Can Choi Tae-won snag the win? Today's key players per experts: For Eagles, newly called-up Kang Si-hak. Back up with Kwon Kwan-yong slumping at short. Excited to see him.]
[He shone under Manager Lee Jin-ho last year but lost the starting gig this season. Still, top talent—high hopes.]
[Heroes' key: Park Byung-hyun. KBO's best hitter, hands down. Leads with 43 homers and RBIs.]
[Terrifying. Even MLB's watching. And right now... play ball! Talbot's first pitch incoming.]
LIVE | KBO BROADCAST — DAEJEON | TOP 1ST
As the game kicked off, Talbot fired his first pitch. Kang Hyun-jun wasn't feeling great today, so Im Byung-yoon led off—fresh call-up from the minors, hoping he delivered.
The players knew what I hated most. First-pitch contact for an out? My pet peeve. Especially table-setters—they needed to see pitches, gauge the ump and pitcher's stuff.
Im Byung-yoon knew it too. He watched the first one—a low straight fastball called strike. No point swinging; it wouldn't produce good contact anyway.
148 km/h. Talbot looked sharp today. His Status Window stamina read 95—batters would need to grind extra hard.
Second pitch rode high. Whoosh! Im Byung-yoon swung hard but whiffed on the high fastball. Talbot snatched 0-2 in a flash.
Next? High chance of his curve, his bread-and-butter. Time to lay off... but Im Byung-yoon swung anyway. Sure enough, curve—whiff, strike three.
Pumping intellect in my stats had sharpened my pitch predictions. At 41, it was first-team caliber. If it grew more? Who knew. For now, keep winning to fuel my own growth.
Next, No. 2 hitter Go Jong-wook. Solid contact, liner right to second—out. Good bat, quick feet, but hits just weren't falling. Plate vision decent, but needed work on zone awareness.
Two quick outs, and up stepped Kim Kang-jun. Cheers swelled. Our hitting ace.
He could grow more. Build swing mechanics on that elite eye, and he'd soar. Contact lagged the vision now. He crushed predictions, but sharp location like Talbot's today? Swing couldn't keep up.
Two strikes, Talbot jams one tight outside. Kim Kang-jun swings to cut—four-seamer in the zone. No real hit possible there, even with great mechanics. Foul would've been nice, but it rolled to first for the groundout.
— BROADCAST COMMENTARY
[Ah... tough at-bat from Kim Kang-jun. Heroes go down 1-2-3.]
[Lineup shuffle showing. New blood like Im Byung-yoon and Go Jong-wook need to step up.]
[With Choi Tae-won starting, they need more firepower?]
[Agreed. Bit of a gamble.]
Easy to misread as conceding the game. But player rest was key—September fatigue was real.
Bottom of the first, Choi Tae-won took the mound. Heart in my throat, I watched, praying for a gem.
