For Lee Young-ha (25), who joined Doosan Bears as the first choice in 2016, 2019 was a ‘time of honor’. He played in 29 games and recorded 17 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 3.64, ranking first in most domestic pitchers along with Kim Kwang-hyun (SK). At that time, Lee Young-ha was a pitcher who was not easy for batters to hit as he had a powerful fastball of well over 150km and a slider in the 140km range.
He seemed to grow into a right-handed pitcher representing the KBO League, but he slowed down for a while and suffered from growing pains, and recently, he went to court over allegations of school violence while in high school baseball. 스포츠토토
He entered the season as an unsigned player this year, but came back to the mound as allegations of school violence turned out to be abhorrent. Lee Young-ha, who returned, said, “I really wanted to play baseball. “It’s nice to be able to play baseball, and I’m happy when I come to the ballpark,” he said, taking the mound with more desperation.
My heart was more than that when I was in “Ace,” but I couldn’t keep up with the spring camp, so the preparation for the season was somewhat disappointing. The ball speed was as good as before, but the overall balance was shaken.
Lee Young-ha, who came back from a reorganization in early August, continued to pitch slowly. His ball speed has become more stable, and his control has become constant. Lee Young-ha, who pitched in 10 innings in 10 games from Aug. 20, began to help Doosan’s bullpen with a 0.90 ERA. In five games in September, he maintained a zero ERA in five ⅓ innings.
In the match against the KIA Tigers on the 18th, he had one hit and one walk in one inning, but struck out two out of three outs. The maximum speed was 155km.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop also smiled at Lee Young-ha’s pitching. Coach Lee said, “Lee Young-ha went through a lot of ups and downs until he took the mound this season,” adding, “I feel like I’ve found stability a little bit.”
Recently, Doosan’s Park Chi-guk, who was a must-win group, fell out due to shoulder pain, while Kim Myung-shin, Hong Gun-hee and Jung Chul-won also seemed somewhat tired from the beginning.
Lee Young-ha also led the team to the Korean Series by taking the center stage in the bullpen in the 2021 postseason. While busy with the ranking battle, if Lee Young-ha shows only that time, Doosan will be able to solve the second half of the game more easily.
Coach Lee said, “We are showing good performance in the absence of (Park) Chi-guk. “I haven’t been able to do it together since the beginning of the season, but I hope you can pour your share into the last 20 games,” he said, looking forward to his performance.