SSG Landers foreign pitcher Kirk McCarty (28) did his part well again.
SSG won 4-1 in the first game of the season against Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 28th. McCarty, who took the mound as a starter, took 2 wins (1 loss) of the season by striking out 3 hits (1 home run), 8 strikeouts, 2 walks and 1 run in 6⅔ innings.
After the game, coach Kim Won-hyung said, “Mccarty showed a great pitch and played a decisive role in the victory. He shows stable pitching in every game and is helping the team a lot,” he praised.
In SSG’s position, McCarty is very grateful. One foreign pitcher, Annie Romero, says she is still sick. The starting lineup for SSG includes “Ace” Kim Gwang-hyeon, veteran selection agents such as Moon Seung-won and Park Jong-hoon, and left-hander Oh Won-seok. However, they showed ups and downs.
When Kim Gwang-hyun took a break due to shoulder inflammation, rookie Song Young-jin, who got a chance to start, took a break after winning 2 wins and undefeated in 3 starts. Since he didn’t prepare for selection since the camp, he takes a break and manages. At this time, McCarty has been doing his part stably since his KBO league debut.
McCarty was not good with 8 runs in 3⅓ innings during the home game against the KIA Tigers on the 2nd, his first appearance of the season. First loss in the KBO League. However, it is a pace that seems to have perfectly adapted to Korean baseball after that.
On the 9th, he reported his first win of the season with 6 scoreless innings at the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles expedition, and then on the 15th, 7 scoreless innings against the NC Dinos, and 2 runs in 7 innings against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 22nd. In the NC match and the Kiwoom match, they failed to accumulate a multiplier, but added a multiplier in 3 games.
McCarty said, “As a starting pitcher, I always aim to pitch long innings rather than worry too much about the difference in points. I think that is my responsibility as a starting pitcher and what I have to do.”
After his first appearance, he threw 26⅔ innings in 4 games before Doosan. He is responsible for more than 6 innings of every game. The score during this period is 1. He mixes and throws various breaking balls such as cutters, curves, sliders, and changeups with fastballs ranging from the late 140km/h to the maximum of 151km, immobilizing opponent batters.메이저사이트
“On the mound, I always try to be aggressive with the hitter,” McCarty said. This is my personal baseball philosophy, and it is also the part that the coach usually emphasizes to the pitcher.”
Initially, he tried to give Romero the position of Wilmer Font, who served as the first foreign starter until last year, but he has disappeared. But there is McCarty. Against Doosan, he recorded the most strikeouts out of five games.
He said, “I was worried throughout my career because of my propensity to throw a ball that was too perfect after the 2nd strike,” he said.
McCarty is showing the most stable side of the starting lineup. When you want to continue your winning streak and avoid a losing streak, McCarty is there.