Can Seung-hwan Oh, 41, the closer for the Samsung Lions in the KBO, become the first KBO pitcher to record 400 saves this season?

Seung-hwan Oh’s pace this season has been different than usual. He has only four blown saves, but he has given up more runs, and he has a 2.5 percent save percentage. His ERA this season is 4.37. It’s his worst since 2009 (4.83) and 2010 (4.50).

He had a rough first half of the season, as he was sent down to the second team twice after making his first start on May 3. At one point, he even gave up the closer’s job to lefty Lee Seung-hyun. Oh’s overall record for the first half of the season was 2-3 with a 4.80 ERA in 26 games, 10 saves and two holds.

However, as the second half began and the team rebounded, Oh Seung-hwan came alive. In 16 games in the second half, he has a 1-1 record with 10 saves and a 3.52 ERA. He has already made up for the 10 saves he had in the first half. His strikeout rate has dropped from nearly 30% in the first half to the low double digits in the second half. He has seven saves in August alone.

Seung-hwan Oh recorded the KBO’s first 390 saves and his third consecutive 20-save season on Aug. 20 against the KIA Tigers at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu. He is now 10 saves away from becoming the first KBO pitcher to reach 400 saves. The 30-save mark, which seemed so far away in the first half of the season, is slowly coming into view. Seung-hwan Oh has now recorded 30 or more saves seven times.

Even before the start of the season, Oh expressed his desire to reach 400 saves. During the training camp in Okinawa, Japan, he said, “I’ve always been quiet about my personal performance, but this time I want to get 400 saves quickly, and I want to change the record.” “If other players aim for my record, I think there will be better pitchers in the bullpen. In the past, there were very few players who had a long run as a closer or bullpen. I was able to grow into a professional closer with coach Sun Dong-yeol, and I didn’t think, ‘I need to get some saves. Nowadays, there are a lot of articles, and amateur players and young players are setting goals, so I’m trying to work harder.”

Oh Seung-hwan is an integral part of the KBO’s closing history. On April 27, 2005, he recorded his first career save against the LG Twins at Daegu Citizens Stadium. In his second year, in 2006, he recorded 47 saves, the most in a single season in the KBO. He has recorded 47 saves twice (2006, 2011) and more than 40 saves four times (2006 47 saves, 2007 40 saves, 2011 47 saves, 2021 44 saves).메이저사이트

On September 18, 2007, against the Gwangju Kia Tigers, he recorded 100 saves in the fewest games (180), and on August 12, 2011, against the Daegu Kia Tigers, he became the youngest and fewest KBO player to record 200 saves in 334 games at the age of 29 years and 28 days. On April 25, 2021, against the Gwangju Kia, he reached 300 KBO saves. Coincidentally, his 100th, 200th, and 300th saves were all against KIA. In total, the team has won the saves title six times, from the 2006-2008, 2011-2012, and 2021 seasons.

On June 6 against the Daegu NC Dinos, he recorded a historic 500 saves in his Korean-American career. Will Oh be able to make history before the end of the season? Samsung has 38 games remaining this season. Given the team’s recent form, it’s worth looking forward to Seung-hwan Oh’s record attempt.