Mengden (left) and Suarez made a strong impression in their debut match. IS photo
No hit and perfect. KBO League new foreign pitchers Andrew Suarez (29, LG) and Daniel Mengden (28, KIA) made their debut in their first 4⅔innings.
Both pitchers received the highest expectations among new foreign pitchers who entered the KBO League in the 2021 season. They are pitchers recognized for their growth potential in the MLB. It is said that domestic recruitment was also fierce. Both pitchers have high-speed balls and have a variety of pitches. The control ability was also confirmed before evaluation and through demonstration games.
On the 6th, they had their debut match side by side. Suarez was second in the regular season last year, and in the opening game on the 4th, Suarez faced KT, who gained momentum by winning with a ending hit by Hanwha. The record was 1 hit and 9 strikeouts in 6 innings.
No hit no run was continued until the 2nd in the 5th. The strike zone was widely used. The pitching in the low left and right course stood out. In particular, the combination of a ball that uses a slider and a two-seam fastball in a row was powerful. From the batter’s point of view, it seemed difficult to grasp the subtle differences in movement between the two pitches.
In the second match against Hwang Jae-gyun at the end of the 4th inning, the timing was completely stolen with a combination of two-shim and a fastball. The difference between the actual restraint (12 km/h) and the perceived restraint was larger. Cho Yong-ho, who came after one company in the 6th inning, could not even bat on a four-seam fastball with a low course (based on a left-handed hitter). Even the hitter, who had the highest number of pitches per at-bat (4.46) last year in the league, was helpless by Suarez’s pinpoint remedy.
Mengden appeared before raising Gocheok. He also did not give up one hit until the fifth inning. He even made a perfect pitch that didn’t even allow on-base. At the end of the 4th inning, Lee Jung-hoo, who faced after 2 shots, struck out all of Park Byeong-ho, who was the lead batter in the 5th. Even in the first game, he turned it into a beomta.
Mengden gave his first hit to David Freitas, a new foreign hitter, after two companies at the beginning of the 5th inning. The follow-up hitter was Song Woo-hyun, who played an active part in the opening game with Samsung and announced his presence. He struck out after 4 pitches and ended the inning without a run.
The two pitchers who led the momentum fight at the beginning of the game side by side. However, the results were different. Mengden hit Kim Soo-hwan in the middle right and allowed Park Dong-won to walk in the pitch at the end of the 6th inning, 2-0. At the end of a game against Lee Yong-gyu, he caught a floating ball, and Kim Hye-sung also seemed to get out of the crisis by making out with a ground ball for second base after two pitches. However, in the third match against Lee Jung-hoo, he allowed a triple hitting over the height of right fielder. I gave 2 points in an instant.
Mengden came down the mound in this situation, and the second pitcher Park Jun-pyo allowed Seo Kun-chang a timely hit, and Mengden’s lead runner stepped home. This match scored 3 runs in 5⅔innings. There was a difference in pitching content with and without runners.
On the other hand, Suarez continued a good fight by striking out in the sixth inning, catching all three outcounts. 1 hit and zero goal pitch. LG’s other ships supported 2 points in the beginning of the 3rd inning, and scored 1 more in the 8th, which was desperate for additional points. LG won 3-2, and Suarez won their debut match. After the game, he said, “KT was a good team and Despine was a good pitching, so I tried to show 100% (my).”
Reporter Ahn Hee-soo [email protected]
