The competition for the final ranking in the first half of the KBO League is getting fiercer. The race ride between the 3rd and 7th places is an ultra-thin situation within only 3 games. In addition, variables remain even in the lower ranks. Who will reap the beauty of the end of the first half?
2023 Professional baseball is turning halfway through 144 games. Although each team is different, more than half of the six clubs have played more than 72 games. The leading LG Twins played a total of 76 games, and the KIA Tigers, with the fewest number of games, also played 69 games.
Now, it can be seen that it is time to talk about the success or failure of the 2023 season. However, with the exception of LG and SSG Landers, who are still consolidating into the second round, it is not easy for anyone to be relieved of the current rankings.
The Yanggang composition between LG and SSG becomes clearer as the season progresses. LG ranks first with a win rate of 0.635, and SSG follows with a win rate of 0.615 by 1.5 games. It is worthy of being ranked as the overwhelming second round in terms of power and the low ups and downs shown this season. In fact, there is no team other than them that can be called the leader.
The first series of the two teams starting the second half is a face-to-face match, but until then, the trend of back and forth is expected to continue when looking at the appearances of those who are showing this season. The 2nd round between LG and SSG is getting stronger as time goes by.
After that, ranking is a difficult task. From 3rd to 7th place, the competition is very fierce. From 3rd place NC Dinos to 7th place KT Wiz, they are closely lined up with only 3 games. As a result of each game, the likelihood that the rankings will change every day has increased until the end of the first half.
The NC Dinos, who suffered a sudden slump with 2 wins and 8 losses in 10 games, including three losses in a row, became a realistic goal for the NC Dinos to secure third place in the first half. 2nd place SSG and the game ride are 7.5 games. Lotte Giants in 4th place are chasing by 0.5 games and Doosan Bears in 5th place by 1.5 games. The 5-game losing streak, which started on the 21st of last month, was cut off with Ace Pedi’s counterattack, but since then, it’s been 3 consecutive losses. The unstoppable momentum shown in early and mid-June needs to revive.
4th place Lotte went through good results in April (0.646 win rate) and May (0.591 win rate), and in June the win rate dropped to 0.360, followed by two consecutive losses in July. It is desperate to finish the first half by raising both the batting ability (team OPS 0.643), which fell to the bottom during the period since June, and the mound, which is staying in 8th place (team ERA 4.71). Fortunately for Lotte, NC was also shaken at the same time, so the ride for both teams is only 0.5 games. From Lotte’s point of view, if it rebounds and finishes the first half in third place, it will be a sufficiently successful finale.
5th place Doosan and 3rd place NC are within 1.5 games of the chase. Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop is poised for an all-out war, foreshadowing three consecutive fights in the bullpen before the end of the first half. Although the win rate is staying near 50%, it was not evaluated as the winning power in the first place. Director Lee Seung-yeop is also taking off the label of a rookie director. The best realistic scenario that Doosan hopes is to continue its upward trend of winning streak in July by sacrificing Samsung, which has now fallen to the bottom, and aiming for the third place. If you finish the first half in third place, Doosan is also a sufficiently successful finish.
6th place Kiwoom is a dark horse that can change the mid-ranking game the most. The ranking, which had fallen to the bottom due to sluggishness in May, rebounded to a good performance (0.609 win rate) in June. Above all, the mound, which is ranked second in the league in team ERA this season (3.59), is holding up without major ups and downs. The most hopeful factor for Kiwoom is that he can get on the flow again at any time if the blow is broken. In the first half of the remaining 9 games, we will meet NC, Doosan, and KT, who are competing in the middle ranks, in turn. Whether or not Kiwoom has the right to recreate the blast shown last year is also expected to be determined in this nine-game series.
7th place KT, which has recently won 3 consecutive wins, is aiming for the most dramatic turnaround. After the nightmare of April (0.333 win rate) and May (0.375), the team atmosphere and ranking dramatically rebounded with June winning rate (0.652). In July, they are in winning streak mode again. It’s one of the most threatening teams in pitching, if only since June. 1st in team batting average (0.280) – 4th in team OPS (0.742), the bat is fierce.
Still, KT’s team ERA is 4.39, and it is only 9th in the season rankings. However, since June, it has recorded 3.86 (fourth place) and is coming back to the strength of a strong team. If LG and Jamsil 3 consecutive matches (7.4-7.6), which can be a turning point, are completed well, it is worth aiming for the position of NC in 3rd place in 3 games.
The composition of the lower ranks below 8th place is also an interesting situation. However, the current joys and sorrows of each team are mixed.
First of all, the fight for 8th and 9th places by 0.5 games is fierce. Currently leading the trend is 8th place Hanwha, which caused a sensation with 8 consecutive wins in about 18 years. Even in April alone, Hanwha had a win rate of only 0.261, and was at the overwhelming bottom. However, both May (0.524 win rate) and June (0.565 win rate) finished with a win rate of over 50%.
In particular, KIA and Samsung, which are currently competing in the lower ranks, had a blast in June when the flow and odds fell, overtaking them all. Hanwha currently ranks low at 8th, but it is chasing 7th place KT by 1.5 games and 6th place Kiwoom by 2 games. If the current trend is followed and the first half is finished well above the mid-level, the current gust of Hanwha can become a huge typhoon that will change the league game in the second half.
9th place KIA and 10th place Samsung are having a difficult time recently, with their monthly odds in June only at 9th and 10th. The current trend with 1 win and 1 loss in 2 games in July is similar. We need to quickly escape from the last-minute flow of the first half like a nightmare.
First of all, KIA’s biggest concern is that the team’s mound, which showed results above the mid-level in the league, has fallen to the level of ninth place during the period with an average ERA of 5.01 since June. He is trying to rebound by searching for a replacement card for foreign players, but there is homework to raise the power of the batting line, which fell to the bottom of the team’s batting average (0.243) during the period. In a situation where the atmosphere of the pitching is not good, the realistic goal is 3.5 games with Doosan in 5th place.바카라사이트
If the team flow is good, the gap is not too big, but if the current performance is also a number that seems far away. Even if you can escape from the lower ranks and finish the first half only in the middle ranks, you can aim for a counterattack in the second half. With 69 games, KIA played 8 games more than Kiwoom, the most, and played an average of 2-3 games less compared to mid-ranking competing teams.
The lowest-ranking Samsung has played 8 games with Doosan in 5th place. Realistically, it has reached a level where it is impossible to aim for entry into the middle ranks. It is the lowest with a considerable gap between 9th place KIA by 3.5 games and 8th place Hanwha by 5 games. This season, Samsung started April well with a win rate of 50%. However, after experiencing a slump with an odds ratio of 0.364 in May, the odds dropped to 0.280 in June. It is said that it is realistically far from the memories of the prestigious clubs that have won numerous championship trophies in the past, but the lowest place is a ranking that the pride of the team does not allow. If Park Jin-man, who is in the worst crisis, does not rebound the flow in the first half, it is in fact a desperate situation where he can be alienated alone even at the baseball festival in the second half.