9G on one day only, will KBO leaderboards be shaken up?
The last day of June is a doubleheader. With nine games scheduled in a single day, it will be interesting to see how the KBO leaderboards shake out.
The KBO League will have nine games on the 30th. On the previous day (29th), Gwangju Kiwoom-KIA, Changwon LG-NC, and Sajik Hanwha-Lotte were canceled due to rainy weather across the country, and Suwon Samsung-KT was also declared a rainout, so four games were organized as doubleheaders.
The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m. The second game will be held 40 minutes after the end of the first game to allow for field maintenance and fans to leave and enter. A total of nine games will be played on the 30th, including the only non-doubleheader, Jamsil SSG-Dusan, scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.
As the season rounds the turnaround point, each team is struggling with injuries and declining fitness of key players. Although two extra players per team are added to the roster for doubleheaders, the KBO League’s shallow player pool means that teams want to avoid doubleheaders as much as possible.
However, the KBO had a tough time scheduling last year, with a record 72 rainouts. The postseason didn’t end until Nov. 13, 바카라사이트넷 and four players from LG and KT, who played in the Korean Series, were dropped from the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) squad due to scheduling issues.
This year, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 will be held on November 13 after the season ends. The KBO didn’t want to get too far behind schedule like last year, so it decided to schedule doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday in case the Friday-Saturday games were rained out.
The doubleheader has been in effect since April, except during the heat wave in July and August, when day games are difficult to play. In total, nine doubleheaders were held on April 21, including Jamsil Doosan-Kium, Munhak LG-SSG, Sajik KT-Lotte, May 12, Jamsil KT-Dusan, Gwangju SSG-KIA, June 9, Sajik SSG-Lotte, June 23, Jamsil KT-LG, Daegu Doosan-Samsung, and Gwangju Hanwha-KIA.
There’s a big perception on the field that it’s okay to have one win and one loss in a doubleheader. We don’t put too much pressure on ourselves and pursue a one-game strategy. Of the nine doubleheaders this year, five were 1-1, the most. There have been two 1-1 ties, and two doubleheaders in which one team dominated with two wins. This season has been one of the biggest battles in baseball, and the leaderboards can be very volatile when teams sweep a 30-day doubleheader.
This year, the KBO is more competitive than ever. There are no clear favorites and no clear underdogs. First through fourth place are separated by three games, and fifth through 10th place are separated by six games. A doubleheader with back-to-back wins and losses can change the standings of more than half the teams in a single day.
On the 30th, it is unclear whether the first game of the doubleheader will start as rainy weather is forecast for the southern part of the country. This further complicates the math in each team’s head. Hanwha is keeping its options open, with Ryan Weiss slated to start Game 1 after Ryu Hyun-jin takes the mound. Samsung and KT, who used up their starting pitchers in the four rainouts of Game 29, will have to prepare for alternate starts or bullpen days.
