10 SVs in August – 100% save rate… The never-ending quest for 400 SVs is now a reality
You’ve made it to the second round. He’s seven away from the record.
Oh Seung-hwan (41-Samsung Lions) is a living history of KBO closers.
He was nicknamed “The Closer” for his unflappable demeanor on the mound, dominating batters with his heavy fastball.
He has won the KBO’s save title six times (2006-2008, 2011-2012, 2021) and has recorded more than 40 saves four times (2006, 2007, 2011, 2021).
Unusually for a relief pitcher, he has also found success overseas. In Japan and the United States, Oh’s history of “back door saves” continued.
He collected 80 saves in the Nippon Professional Baseball League and 42 saves in the Major Leagues.
On June 6, Oh made history as a ‘closer’. He took the mound in the top of the ninth inning of the Daegu NC with a three-run lead and pitched one scoreless inning to earn his 500th career save.
Seung-hwan Oh, Mariano Rivera (652 saves) and Trevor Hoffman (601 saves) are the only players in the history of the Korean Baseball Organization to achieve 500 saves.
At the time of his 500th save, Oh expressed his desire to reach 400 saves in the KBO.
Seung-hwan Oh, who had 370 saves last year, has been talking about his goal of 400 saves since before the season.
He had 31 saves last season, but at his advanced age, it was hard to be optimistic about reaching the mark.
In fact, the first half of the year has been a far cry from the dominant closer he’s been known to be. In the month of April, he faltered, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 games with four saves and two holds.
As he continued to falter, he made his debut start on May 3 to shake things up. It was a successful start, as he hoped to get his feel for the long innings.
Seung-hwan Oh continued to struggle in June and July, with monthly ERAs in the five-run range. To make matters worse, the team was losing more games than they were winning, which meant fewer opportunities for Seung-hwan to pitch.
In August, Oh’s save pace was steep. It coincided with Samsung’s three-game winning streak. Samsung went 12-9 in 21 games.
Given the team’s bullpen situation, there were a lot of close games, which naturally led to a lot of opportunities for Seung-hwan Oh.
In 13 games, Oh faced 10 save opportunities and responded with 10 saves. His ERA was 3.55, which is a bit high for a closer, but he did his job with a 100% save percentage.메이저사이트
On the 26th and 27th of this month against Daegu Kiwoom, the team held on to a one-run and two-run lead, respectively. Despite the streak, Oh’s pitches were still hitting the strike zone. Even foreign batters with good hitting power seemed to lose the power battle.
With his 22nd and 23rd saves of the season, Oh moved into a tie for third place in saves with Kim Won-joong (Lotte). He is now seven saves away from 400.
Samsung has played 110 games through 28 days. With 34 games left, we can expect 10 or more save situations from Oh Seung-hwan. If he gets seven of them, it could be a season where he not only shows off his health, but also perfectly fulfills the goal he set for himself.
