Who says “baby tiger” means 5 starts? Now you can see rookie of the year when you hit 10 wins.
Kia Tigers pitcher Yoon Young-chul pitched a six-inning no-hitter to earn his sixth win of the season and lead his team to its second straight victory. If he can reach the 10-win plateau next season, he will now have a leg up in the Rookie of the Year race.
On July 29 against the Gwangju Lotte Giants, Yoon pitched six innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts and two walks in a 4-1 victory.
On the mound, Yoon settled into a steady flow of pitches from the first inning. After a clean start with a triple play in the top of the first, including one strikeout, Yoon worked back-to-back triple play innings in the top of the second.
In the top of the third inning, Yoon was hit by a single from fellow Rookie of the Year contender Kim Min-seok. A sacrifice bunt led to a runners on first and second, but Yoon got Shin Yun-hoo and Yoon Dong-hee to strike out swinging and ground out to shortstop, respectively, to prevent a run from scoring.
In the top of the fourth inning, the KIA bats, which had been silent through three innings, came alive as Yoon struck out the side. KIA took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when leadoff hitter Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo singled to put runners on first and second with no outs, but Socrates’ throw to first led to a throwing error by opposing first baseman Han Dong-hee.
KIA added another run on a sacrifice fly by Kim Sun-bin with runners on second and third. Then, with the bases loaded after two walks, KIA made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Park Chan-ho.
With run support, Yoon gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Noh Jin-hyuk in the top of the fifth, but he induced Han Dong-hee to fly out to center field to end the inning. Yoon then got Kim Min-seok to fly out to center field to secure his sixth win of the season.
KIA added one more run in the bottom of the fifth on a leadoff solo home run by Na Sung-beom. Yoon Young-cheol took the mound in the top of the sixth and walked Son Sung-bin and Shin Yoon-hoo. He then gave up a straight fly ball to Yoon Dong-hee, but Yoon got Gudrum to fly out to center field for a quality start.
In the top of the seventh inning, the KIA bench went to the bullpen with Lim Ki-young on the mound. Despite giving up a run in the top of the seventh, KIA retired Lee Jun-young and Jeon Sang-hyun in order in the top of the eighth, and closer Jung Hae-young got Jeon Jun-woo and Noh Jin-hyuk to fly out and ground out respectively with runners on first and second in the top of the ninth to end the game.
It was Yoon’s first appearance on the mound in 17 days since his relief appearance against the Gwangju Samsung Lions on July 12 (1.2 innings of scoreless relief). It was a great day to see just how powerful Yoon’s fastball can be when he’s properly recharged in the middle of his rookie season.
More importantly, Yoon had the best performance of any of the team’s starters in the rotation this week. The two foreign pitchers, Yang Hyun-jong (5.2 innings, 4 runs) and Lee Yi-ri (6 innings, 3 runs), both pitched only five innings, and were not nearly as good as Yoon. Based on his performance alone, it’s safe to say that Yoon was the Tigers’ No. 1 starter.
Yoon is also considered a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. In 15 games (74.1 innings) this season, Yoon went 6-4 with a 3.75 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 26 walks, and a 1.28 WHIP. On the pitching side, second-year Hanwha Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-ju (6-6 with a 3.48 ERA, 78 strikeouts, 32 walks, and a 1.26 WHIP in 17 games and 88 innings pitched) is the strongest contender for Rookie of the Year.토토사이트
Ultimately, it will come down to whether Yoon can reach the 10-win plateau and put up competitive numbers in metrics like innings pitched and ERA. Another variable is whether Moon will make the Korean National Team for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games. If he doesn’t make the team, Yoon could have a chance to make a run at the Rookie of the Year race in the remaining games. It will be interesting to see if Yoon can match his 10 wins in his rookie season with a once-in-a-lifetime rookie trophy.