Doosan Bears right-hander Kim Myung-shin’s fighting spirit led to the team’s leap to 5th place, a winning series of three consecutive weekends, and a streak of victories. 안전놀이터
Doosan won 4-2 in the 8th game of the season against the Lotte Giants of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 2nd. Following the 2-1 victory the previous day, they sounded the pitch for two consecutive games and rose from 6th to 5th place.
Doosan was in a situation where finisher Hong Kun-hee was unable to pitch due to a recent series of fights. With Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop announcing Hong Kun-hee’s rest early before the game, attention was focused on bullpen management.
Fortunately for Doosan, ace Raul Alcantara took a breather by fighting hard with 2 runs in 6 innings, and Kim Myung-shin did his part. Kim Myung-shin went to the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning, with the team tied 2-2, and showed off his sharp pitch by killing Park Seung-wook, Han Dong-hee and Kim Min-seok with 10 balls.
The Doosan Bench gave Kim Myung-shin the start of the bottom of the 8th inning despite taking a 4-2 lead with Yang Seok-hwan’s 2-run home run in the top of the 8th inning. Kim Myung-shin finished the mound by replacing Yoo Sang-nam with a first baseman foul fly and Ko Seung-min with a left fielder foul fly, and then replaced with Park Chi-guk.
In the last game on the 1st, he won a hold with 2 innings, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts, and no runs, and kept Doosan’s victory, followed by a winning pitcher in the game on the 2nd, and became the number one contributor to the 3-game winning series this weekend in Ulsan.
After the game, Kim Myung-shin said, “Actually, I didn’t know that I would throw at the end of the 8th inning, but maybe it’s because the flow continued well, (the manager) seems to have decided that it was better to go without a pitcher change.” It was more burdensome because I was in the middle of a losing streak. Today, I was tied at the beginning, and I was ahead by 2 points in the 8th inning, and even if a runner went out, Park Chi-guk was behind me, so I didn’t feel that it was too difficult.”
Kim Myung-shin is recording an average ERA of 3.32 with 2 wins, 2 losses and 4 holds in 30 games of the season until today. He is playing a key role, throwing 38 innings, the most among bullpen pitchers on the team.
He took the mound in 58 games, the second most in the team in the 2021 season, and 68 games, the most last year, and played various roles such as long relief and pursuit, and recently rose to a winning group.
Doosan coaching staff and fans know the value of Kim Myung-shin. He doesn’t stand out, but whenever the team needs it, he goes up to the mound and silently sprays the ball, giving generous applause.
Kim Myung-shin is always fully prepared so that he can pitch at any time. Even though he played in frequent games, he said, “I think it’s an advantage because my utilization is high,” and “If you look at the comments on the club’s official YouTube channel, the fans cheer me a lot, and it really helps me a lot.”
He also added, “I have always been a pitcher who pitches so often. Now I think it’s time for me to rise a little bit.” He added, “I have to work hard when the water comes in.