NC Dinos foreign hitter Jason Martin entered the batter’s box against right-hander Kim Kang-ryul in the bottom of the seventh inning with a 6-5 lead over the Doosan Bears in Game 1 of the wild card decision on the 18th. When the first ball, 146km fast ball came in, he suddenly took a bunt position.
I bunt neatly. The speed of the ball was also slowed, and the direction was toward first base. Kim Kang-ryul caught and threw to first base to raise the out count. NC later took a full base chance with Kwon Hee-dong’s walk and Kim Joo-won’s right-handed hit, and Seo Ho-cheol hit a two-run double over the left field height to run away by three runs.
Six runs and big innings in the eighth inning were the decisive hits, but it is true that they brought some flow to two runs in the seventh inning. And Martin’s bunt was not directed by director Kang In-kwon. Coach Kang In-kwon said after the game, “It was voluntary. He said, “He’s our team’s fourth hitter, but I don’t think he’s bunt, so I made a strong sign.”
Martin’s sacrifice bunt was necessary in terms of the flow of the game. However, Kang In-kwon wanted to save the fourth batter’s pride. Martin went 0 for 4 with one RBI and one run scored. Martin’s bat was not satisfactory despite the batting line bursting with 12 hits and nine walks.
In 118 games this season, Martin had 123 hits in 435 at-bats for a batting average of 0.283, 17 homers, 90 RBIs, 55 runs batted in by 15 steals, 0.455, on-base hit rate of 0.360 OPS, 0.815 run-scoring average of 0.317. Unlike his reputation as the home run king of Triple-A, he did not hit many home runs. Crucially, he was not very good with a batting average of 0.244 with three home runs, 23 RBIs and nine runs in 35 games between September and October. 스포츠토토
Coach Kang In-kwon must have been grateful that a foreign hitter with a bad batting condition bunt, and on the other hand, there must have been a pity that Martin’s shot did not hit in the first game of the fall baseball. All batters can’t be without ups and downs, and Martin also has ups and downs. Anyway, it is not a good phenomenon because the average falls at the most important time for NC.
Coach Kang In-kwon fully felt Martin’s team-first mindset. This part should actually be highly regarded. However, it is worth considering whether to continue to use hitters who do not look very good in batting condition as fourth batters. The semi-playoff against SSG Landers will begin on the 22nd. Will Martin be keeping the fourth batting order. Considering that it is the fourth batter, there is a good chance that another batter will go in.