This is what a "championship hitter" looks like.
LG Twins right-hander Choi Won-tae recorded his first quality start of the season, saving his team's 5.5 win percentage from collapse.
Choi made his first quality start against the SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 19, going six innings and allowing one run. Throwing 91 pitches over six innings, Choi allowed just two hits, walked three, struck out five, and gave up one earned run to lead the team to a 4-1 victory and improve to 2-1 on the season.
He battled SSG batters with a fastball that topped out at 148 mph (26), a two-seamer that was 146 mph (11), a slider that was 141 mph (29), a changeup that was 129 mph (13), and a curveball that was 125 mph (12).
In the bottom of the first inning, he was in trouble right away, as his first pitch didn't work. He gave up back-to-back straight balls to Choi Ji-hoon on first and Choo Shin-soo on second. Musa gave up a single to left field to Heredia, who stole second and third. Musa had runners on first and second, but Han Yoo-seom flied out to center field. Shortstop Oh Ji-hwan intentionally dropped it to the ground while trying to catch it and then threw to second base in a strategy to get both Heredia and Shin-Soo Choo at first. The plan was to force out Heredia at second base and then try to kill Shin-Soo Choo running to third base.
However, Shin-Soo Choo was not fooled and went back to second base instead of third, leaving only Heredia out and runners on first and second.
The play may have woken up Choi Won-tae, who struck out Go Myung-joon and got Park Sung-hwan to ground out to the second baseman to prevent any further damage. The one-run first inning was the biggest reason why the team was able to cruise until the sixth inning.
After that, things settled down. After getting out of the second inning 카지노 with a strikeout, Choi Won-tae gave up just one hit in the third inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the big moment came. He was hit by a pitch.
After the first inning, I was hit in the left knee by a Park Sung-hwan pitch. The trainer and coach came out and checked my knee for a while, but it was fine. In the top of the fourth inning, SSG starter Park Jong-hoon was hit in the right arm by an Austin pitch and had to be replaced, so both teams' starters were in danger of being hit by a pitch. Fortunately, Choi Won-tae gave the all-clear after throwing a practice pitch and continued to pitch.
After retiring Kim Sung-hyun on a line drive to third base and Lee Ji-young on a grounder to shortstop to end the fourth inning, Choi got out of the fifth inning with a triple play, and he came back in the top of the sixth inning to retire the next two batters before getting Park Sung-han on a grounder to shortstop to complete his first quality start.
After the game, Choi Won-tae said, "I've been so bad. Today is my best pitching, but I've been trying to do well, but it hasn't worked out, so I think it worked out because I relaxed today," he said, adding, "I think it worked out because my changeup and curveball went for strikes, and four different pitches went for strikes."
When asked how he handled the situation when his first pitch was bad, Choi Won-tae said, "It was bad, but I think I handled it well with the experience of throwing a lot of pitches," adding, "Actually, it was bad after that. When asked why he felt better after being hit by a pitch, he laughed and said, "I think it was because I got hit by a pitch that my competitive spirit boiled over."
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