"KIA wins? That's obvious!"Five commentators answered without hesitation
"KIA wins? That's obvious!"Five commentators answered without hesitation
Blog Article
The 2025 professional baseball season will be the fastest since its launch in 1982. Starting from Friday, 10 teams will play 144 games per team, with a long-term race for the top spot. Experts have been given "hints" on the game plan for this season through spring camps and exhibition games. Marking the opening of the season, Sports Trends asked five commentators – Lee Soon-cheol and Choi Won-ho (SBS Sports+), Jung Min-cheol (MBC Sports+), Jang Sung-ho (KBS N Sports), and Kim Jae-ho (SPOTV) – for their opinions on the direction of this season.
The Dong-A Ilbo questioned a potential winner of the 2025 season. No one can disagree. All of them predict the second consecutive win of Kia, the defending champion.
Commentator Lee Soon-cheol called KIA a 'special lecture' beyond the extreme and singled out the team as the 'strongest team' by an overwhelming margin. Commentator Jang Song-ho did not elaborate on the fact that Kia is the No. 1 favorite among the contenders.바카라사이트
Last year, Kia won the regular season title with 87 wins, two draws and 55 losses. It easily topped the Korean Series by beating Samsung, the second-ranked team in the regular season league, with four wins and one loss overall. According to recent trends in the KBO League, however, a team's two consecutive wins are extremely difficult.
After Doosan won the 2015-2016 Korean Series in a row, the winning team changed every year from 2017 to last year. Commentator Jung Min-cheol said, "It is a time when each club has sought to level its power, including the recruitment of free agents."
Despite this, experts have predicted Kia as the top contender for this year's championship. Its overwhelming attack power is the biggest reason why the team ranks Kia as the strongest team.
"If we are asked to look for weaknesses of the Kia Tigers, the number of mistakes can be offset by attacks," said Lee Soon-cheol. "He is the only team that recorded a batting average of .300 last year. He has good offensive lineup this year as well," said Chung Min-cheol, a commentator for SPOTV, while Kim Jae-ho said, "It is clear that the team has the highest chance of winning the title. He is the best in the league as far as batting lineups are concerned."
Kia will play without leakage again this year to its batting lineup, which showed off tremendous firepower. Starting with Kim Do-young, the MVP of the regular league with 38 home runs and 40 steals, main players including Choi Hyung-woo, Na Sung-bum, Kim Sun-bin and Park Chan-ho have prepared for the new season in good health. If Patrick Wisdom, the only new face of the team, is a variable. Wizdom, a foreign hitter with a big guns, has yet to show off his batting average of 0.222 at an exhibition game.
"I think the fact that Wisdom can play the role of No. 4 hitter is also a level of discussion because luxury people have to create weaknesses somehow," Jang Sung-ho, a member of the committee, said positively. "I think he is a good player to do well on his own if left alone." Kim Jae-ho acknowledged Wisdom's power, saying, "I certainly have a long shot, but I still have no clue how many homers I will hit."
Some experts are paying attention to the strong bullpen. "The lineup with long hit and speed has a good balance, and the quality of the bullpen pitcher is good, and the team is ahead of other teams in quantity," commentator Choi Won-ho said. Kia, which has a solid closing pitcher, also has good balance between right-handed Jeon Sang-hyun and Cho Sang-woo, and left-handed Choi Ji-min and Kwak Do-gyu.
Jang Hyun-sik, who played an active part in last year's must-win group, moved to LG as an FA, but Jo Sang-woo, a former Kiwoom closer, joined through a trade. Jang Sung-ho, a member of the committee, said, "Jang Hyun-sik was missing, but I filled it with Jo Sang-woo. In fact, even without Jo Sang-woo's recruitment, it should be considered the strongest power."
Kia Tigers suffered from a series of injuries last year due to its starting pitchers. Replacement starters, including Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun, made stellar performances to fill the void. Just by allowing starting pitchers to play a healthy season, KIA will have room to become stronger than last year.
Jung Min-chul, a member of the committee, said, "The new foreign pitcher Adam Oler looks fine, and Kim Do-hyun seems to be able to play the role of the fifth starter," adding, "KIA has an expected history of Yang Hyun-jong who has pitched more than 170 innings for 10 consecutive years. If James Nail and Oler throw without leaving and Lee Eui-ri returns in June, it is a very good history."