‘No. 1 and 4.5G’ KT adjusts rotation…Cuevas-Benjamin-Go-Young-pyo to start for LG Electronics

Forced to adjust their rotation due to rain cancellation, the KT Wiz will send out both a foreign one-two punch and a homegrown ace against the ‘league-leading’ LG Twins.

Ahead of the 13th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Samsung Lions at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said, 바카라사이트“I thought about it a lot the day before (on the 30th). The rotation should go in order after the game, but it’s a bit burdensome to use substitutes on Tuesday (Sept. 5) and Sunday (Sept. 10),” he said, explaining the reason for adjusting the starting rotation.

In particular, KT will have to play a three-game series against the LG Twins in Suwon starting on September 5, after playing Samsung Electronics on September 31 and the Gochuk Kiwoom Heroes on September 1-3. On the weekend, a three-game home series against the SSG Landers awaits KT. While playing top teams could be a chance for KT to leapfrog to the next level, it’s also a daunting schedule. KT also had to consider that if they didn’t make any changes to their rotation, ‘alternate starter’ Kim Min-ju would have to take the mound against LG Electronics on the 5th and SSG on the 10th.

In the end, KT decided to rely on its most reliable ‘ace’ William Cuevas to pitch twice a week. Naturally, Cuevas is taking this week off without a pitching schedule. Manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “He came here (in June) and kept rotating with little rest, but to go out (as planned), he has to pitch on Sunday (the 3rd). So I think it’s better to move Cuevas back and give him an hour of rest at this time. When I made the rotation for the rest of the schedule or in case of rain, I realized that Cuevas should go on the 5th and 10th.”

As a result, KT used the starting lineup of Cuevas, Wes Benjamin, and Young-pyo in the three-game series against LG on May 5-7. In effect, all of the pitchers in the starting lineup who are currently in the best shape are going to start against LG.

However, Lee drew the line at ‘targeted selection’. “I thought about it for a while. No matter how you look at it, it’s inevitable. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings, so I’m telling you in advance,” he said. “Looking at the current rotation, I think Cuevas should be in the lineup against the KIA Tigers (September 22-24), so I organized it like that.”

He continued, “If we send Ko Young-pyo back, the first game of the remaining schedule is against SSG (Incheon on Sept. 12). “I thought about pulling all the starters for four days (in the rotation), but I don’t want to overdo it,” he said. “You could say it’s a game-changer, but I don’t think it is. We only have four starters and one is a backup, and we said let’s not overdo it, so we went with the flow.”