The result of determination and motivation is to become a “survivalist,” and NC Dinos ace Lee Jae-hak (33), the club’s all-time winningest pitcher, seems to be making sure he doesn’t miss any opportunities that come his way.안전놀이터
Lee started the game against the Hanwha Eagles at Changwon NC Park on the 27th, allowing three runs (two earned) on 106 pitches in six innings with two hits, three walks and two strikeouts. It was his second consecutive quality start, following a no-hitter on Sept. 21 against Samsung Electronics (six innings, two walks, four strikeouts), but he was unable to get enough support from the infield to prevent his team from falling to 0-5.
Lee settled into the inning relatively well, but two walks in the second inning put runners on first and second with no outs. In the third, he allowed the leadoff hitter, Lee Jin-young, to reach on a throwing error by the shortstop, but he got out of the inning unscathed. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning. His streak of 10 consecutive no-hitters ended in the fifth inning. After giving up a leadoff walk to Oh Sun-jin, he was hit by a fake bunt and slash by Lee Do-yoon to left field. It was his first hit of the game and first of the season.
Lee’s sacrifice bunt created chaos in the outfield. First baseman Do Tae-hoon threw to third for a safety, and then shortstop Kim Joo-won, who was covering third base, made another throwing error to first base, resulting in the first run of the game. A runners on second and third with no outs led to a double by Moon Hyun-bin. We gave up three runs in the fifth inning. No further runs were scored and he retired Noh Si-hwan, Choi Jae-hoon, and Jang Jin-hyeok in order in the sixth inning to complete his quality start.
Lee’s fastball reached 145 kilometers on the day, with an average velocity of 140 kilometers. In the last game against Samsung Electronics, his fastball reached 146 kilometers.
Although he threw 45 fastballs, 40 changeups, and 16 cutters on the day, Lee is essentially a two-pitch pitcher with a fastball and a changeup. That’s how he built his career and became the franchise’s all-time wins leader with 76 career wins.
For Lee, a velocity of more than 140 kilometers is essential to maximize the power of his main weapon, his changeup. In his last two games, he has fulfilled that requirement and pitched quality starts. But neither was helped by the bats. For Samsung, the bats were silent and the bullpen didn’t help. For Hanwha, the batting lineup was silent and the outfielders hit into a double play and an error.
This is Lee Jae-hak, who didn’t even participate in spring training this year and had to start the season in the second team camp. With the growth of young pitchers such as Song Myung-ki, Shin Min-hyuk, Lee Yong-jun, Shin Young-woo, and Jung Goo-beom, he was not even able to compete for the starting rotation. However, Lee Jae-hak worked his way up from the second team and made his presence known by pitching well in two consecutive games. The veteran ace is now a ‘survivor’. This paved the way for Lee Jae-hak’s dominance in the competition for the next five spots.
However, his luck hasn’t been kind to him, and he hasn’t gotten any help from the beasts.