Hanwha lost 0-2 to the NC Dinos in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at NC Park in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Hanwha, which has lost six consecutive games, will have 56 wins, six draws and 79 losses this season. At the same time, the ranking fell one step from 9th to 10th, behind Kiwoom Heroes, who won the game against the Samsung Lions.
In the game, Hanwha was completely blocked by NC starter Eric Peddy and NC’s must-win group. It was encouraging to produce hits in every inning against Peddy, the league’s strongest pitcher, but he did not score a single run because he did not hit a concentration. In the end, Hanwha gave Pedi a milestone of 20 wins and 200 strikeouts and fell to the bottom at the same time.
Hanwha began the season by proclaiming winning baseball ahead of this season. But the early results of the season were disastrous. 안전놀이터
Hanwha did not have a good record due to the sluggishness of foreign hitter Brian O’Grady and the injury of Birch Smith in April. Hanwha, which lost its wings, repeatedly crashed when two foreign players, who accounted for a large proportion of the team, were missing. In the end, he fell to the bottom with a terrible record of 6 wins and 17 losses in April.
Hanwha eventually pulled out its sword to renew the atmosphere. Carlos Subero replaced the then first-tier coach and promoted Choi Won-ho, who was the second-tier coach, to the first-tier team.
Choi Won-ho quickly overhauled the team after taking office. Since then, Hanwha has raised its ranking with Ricardo Sanchez joining instead of foreign pitcher Smith, and at the end of June, it won eight consecutive games for the first time in 18 years and participated in the fifth round fight.
However, Hanwha crashed quickly after the All-Star break. Nick Williams, the new foreign hitter who joined the team, failed to play his role, and Sanchez was also shaken after his pitching habit was exposed. Center hitter Chae Eun-sung also cooled down in the second half, unlike in the first half. In the end, Hanwha, which had difficulties in pitching and hitting, collapsed with a winning rate of 0.250 (5 wins and 15 losses) in August.
Nevertheless, Hanwha won six consecutive games in early September, widening the gap with Kiwoom, the lowest at the time, to seven games. However, when Moon Dong-ju finished the season early and center hitter Roh Si-hwan left for the Asian Games, problems were revealed in both offense and pitching staff. Foreign pitchers Felix Peña and Sanchez were also not powerful. To make matters worse, even Kim Tae-yeon, who played a strong role in the central batting line, left due to a fracture of the medial bone in his left finger.
In the end, Hanwha, which faced a total crisis in offense and defense and lost wins little by little, had only 4 wins and 9 losses from the 23rd to the 8th of last month when the players were transferred to the Asian Games. Kiwoom, which played many games in advance, recorded three wins, three losses and a 50% winning rate. While Kiwoom was in place, Hanwha itself self-destructed.
The bigger problem is that Hanwha doesn’t have many chances left. Hanwha will end the regular season with three consecutive games against the Lotte Giants starting on the 14th. Hanwha was originally scheduled to use Ricardo Sanchez, Felix Peña and Lee Tae-yang as starters in the three-game series, but this plan was also twisted as Sanchez was pulled out of the game complaining of side pain during the game on the 9th.
On the other hand, Kiwoom has only the KIA Tigers match on the 11th and the SSG Landers match on the 13th. As Kiwoom ace Ariel Furado is likely to take the mound on the 13th in the rotation, Hanwha’s escape from the bottom is not expected to be guaranteed until the end.
Hanwha has already had a hard time, ranking the lowest for three consecutive years. The mid-season glamour has completely disappeared. The fear is that Hanwha, which even changed its coach and threw a winning move, is at the bottom for the fourth consecutive year.
