pitcher Ko Woo-suk (26) of the San Antonio Mission under the San Diego Padres is struggling. He is also unlucky, as his batting average (BABIP) stands at a whopping 48 percent.
In an away game against Corpus Christi Hooks (under Houston Astros) at Corpus Christi Wataburger Field in Texas on the 22nd (Korea time), Ko was shaken up by his relief appearance in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing three hits, one walk and two runs. He became a losing pitcher along with his team’s 1-2 come-from-behind defeat.
With his team leading 1-0, Ko started the eighth inning after hitting a double off the left-field line on the first pitch by the first batter, Ronaldo Espinoza. Jeremy Arocho made a surprise bunt toward the third base, connecting the chance to the first and third base with no outs. After giving up a steal to Arocho, Ko induced Quincy Hamilton to ground out to the first base but allowed Kennedy Corona to turn the game around due to a timely two-run double. His second blon save of the season.
After giving up another stolen base to Corona, he walked Miguel Palma to load the bases in the eighth inning. Allowing his first walk of the season. The crisis continued with one out and runners on first and second, but he guided Colin Barber to a grounder to second base, ending the inning with a 4-6-3 double play. San Antonio failed to score in the top of the ninth inning, ending the game 1-2, and Ko lost his second game of the season.
He pitched six games, two losses, one save and an ERA of 6.75.8 innings, allowing 12 hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts, and seven runs (six earned). On the surface, his performance is not very good. He has stable ball control with 1.13 walks per nine innings, but he hits too much. He has a batting average of 343 percent, including giving up three doubles. He is playing head-to-head without avoiding it, but the result does not match.
Records show no signs of luck. The East Village Times, a local media outlet in the San Diego area, reported on Tuesday that Ko’s pitching was disappointing. He took the lead in the eighth inning, but allowed two runs with three hits and one walk. He allowed a walk for the first time in this season, adding that although Ko’s ERA is not good at 6.75, this does not show everything.
Based on detailed figures such as xFIP (expected defense-free ERA), FIP (defensive-free ERA) of 0.78, strikeout rate of 33.3%, and BABIP (in-play hit ratio) of .450, the media then pointed out that “Ko Woo-seok has not been lucky so far, which may have contributed to the high ERA.”
If the game is updated, Ko’s BABIP stands at 48%. Some argue that a pitcher’s ability and BABIP are not related much, and although the sample is not accumulated much because it is the beginning of the season, the BABIP close to 50% is abnormal. The fact that the batting average is higher than 20 percent can be evidence that he has no luck because he does not get the location of the ball or help from defense. During the KBO league, Ko’s BABIP was 293 percent, the highest at 356 percent last year.
After posting a post after the end of last year’s season, Ko signed a two-year guarantee of 4.5 million U.S. dollars with the San Diego Padres in January this year. He became the first player with the LG Twins to sign a contract with the Major League, but suffered two losses and a 12.60 ERA in six exhibition games. He gave up 11 hits, including one home run, and allowed three walks, six strikeouts, and nine runs (seven earned runs) during five innings. 고소득알바
He came to Korea for the Seoul Series of the MLB World Tour last month, but he was eliminated from the opening roster after allowing two runs in an inning by hitting a two-run home run by Lee Jae-won in a special game against his former team LG prior to the opening. Triple-A El Paso Chihuahua under San Diego has started the season in Double-A San Antonio in consideration of the club as it belongs to the extreme Tagotuser Pacific Coast League (PCL).
Since the opening game, San Diego has called up two relief pitchers – left-hander Adrian Morehorn and right-hander Logan Gilaspi from Triple-A. Ko, who has been shunned twice, needs a little more time. It is regrettable that the performance is so far, but due to the nature of baseball that converges to the average, we can expect to see his performance improve in the future if proper luck brings him.