Lions dream big after reaching small milestone in KBO

유지호 / 2021-05-14 13:45:06

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▲ Samsung Lions' closer Oh Seung-hwan (R) and catcher Kang Min-ho celebrate their 4-0 victory over the KT Wiz in a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 13, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Jose Pirela of the Samsung Lions (L) steals second base against the KT Wiz in the top of the eighth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 13, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Samsung Lions players celebrate their 4-0 victory over the KT Wiz in a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 13, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Won Tae-in of the Samsung Lions pitches against the KT Wiz in the bottom of the seventh inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 13, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Koo Ja-wook of the Samusng Lions runs to first base after hitting a sacrifice fly against the KT Wiz in the top of the fifth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 13, 2021. (Yonhap)

baseball-club

Lions dream big after reaching small milestone in KBO

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, May 14 (Yonhap) -- By rising to the top of the standings in the early going of the 2021 season, the Samsung Lions have also won a small race within the long pennant race.

They became the first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club to reach 20 wins this year, after beating the KT Wiz 7-5 on Wednesday. They followed that up with a 4-0 win on Thursday. At 21-13, the Lions lead three clubs, including the defending champions NC Dinos, by 2.5 games.

In a league that plays 144 games a season, being the first to 20 victories may not seem all that crucial. It may seem to be an arbitrary cutoff number.

The truth is: Teams pay attention. Players and coaches care about this stuff, if only for the psychological edge it gives them over other teams.

The KBO's annual record book provides a list of clubs that reached win plateaus each season, starting at 10 wins with an increment of 10.

Some random club can get hot early and beat everyone to 10 wins, only to cool off and stay that way the rest of the year. But to arrive at 20 wins first, which usually happens around the 30-game mark, teams will need more than just luck. The sample size may be just large enough that it offers a better illustration of teams' capabilities and their chances of doing some damage later in the year.

And history shows that arriving at 20 wins first puts clubs in a good position to reach the postseason.

Since 2001, only the 2012 Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes missed out on the playoffs after becoming the first club to win 20 games. In that 20-season span, the first-to-20 teams went on to claim the Korean Series championship 12 times.

That includes the Lions in 2002 and 2013. They also got to the 20-win mark first in 2015, but lost to the Doosan Bears in the Korean Series that year.

The Lions haven't returned to the postseason since. They're in the midst of the longest postseason drought in club history, but despite early season injury woes and a 0-4 start, the Lions appear ready to end that slide.

Through Thursday's action, the Lions had the league's lowest ERA with 3.66 and most strikeouts with 276. They boast two of the KBO's top starters in Won Tae-in (6-1, 1.00 ERA) and ex-major leaguer David Buchanan (4-1, 2.27 ERA). Their league-average offense has done just enough to back the pitching staff.

The Lions are also on pace to lead the league in steals for the second straight season. They have swiped three bags in each of the past two games against the Wiz and now have 34 steals in 43 attempts. Base stealing may be a dying art, but when you're successful nearly 80 percent of the time like this year's Lions are, why stop?

Even the slugger Jose Pirela has joined the party. He's leading the way on offense with a .370/.417/.674 line, with a team-leading 11 home runs and 31 RBIs. Pirela also has four steals and has been aggressive on the basepaths all season.

Manager Huh Sam-young has to hold his breath whenever Pirela slides hard into bags, fearing possible injury for the 183-centimeter, 99-kilogram outfielder/designated hitter.

"Because of injury risks, I've told him not to push himself too hard when running the bases," Huh said recently. "But he's so driven that we can't always keep him in check."

It isn't just Pirela; Huh has been singing praises of the way all of his players have been able to exploit even the tiniest of advantages on the basepaths with their aggression.

In his second season as manager, Huh is wary of early-season hype surrounding his club. In 2020, the Lions were in postseason contention through the first 60 or so games before fading away. They were at 30-25 on July 7, a season-high five games over .500, but then went 5-11 the rest of July and never returned to the .500 mark again.

For the manager, any talk of a postseason trip for the Lions is just noise at this point.

"It doesn't really matter what other people think right now, and I am not really paying attention," Huh said. "Where we stand now isn't as important as the remaining games ahead."

(END)