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KBO’s ERA leader gets 2nd straight Opening Day nod

(Yonhap)

The reigning ERA and strikeout king will take the mound to open the 2023 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season Saturday. Managers of the 10 KBO clubs unveiled their Opening Day starting pitchers during the annual media day held in Seoul on Thursday. The new season starts at 2 p.m. Saturday at five stadiums across the country.

An Woo-jin of the Kiwoom Heroes will start against the Hanwha Eagles at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. An, who led the KBO last season with a 2.11 ERA and 224 strikeouts, will make his second straight Opening Day start.

An looked to be in midseason form in spring training, giving up just one run in 12 innings with 14 strikeouts.

“He is the best pitcher in Korea right now,” Heroes manager Hong Won-ki said at the media day. “He continues to get better and better, and he’s a big-game pitcher who thrives under pressure.”

The Eagles will counter with new American right-hander Burch Smith, who had an excellent preseason with 15 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings and a 1.42 ERA.

South Korean pitcher Kim Minwoo had started the two previous Opening Days for the Eagles, but

Eagles manager Carlos Subero broke with tradition and called Smith “one of our strongest pitchers right now.”

The defending champions, SSG Landers, will send franchise icon Kim Kwang-hyun against the Kia Tigers at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, some 30 kilometers west of Seoul. It’s Kim’s first Opening Day assignment since 2019 and his fourth overall.

Kim and An are the only two South Korean starters for Opening Day.

The Tigers will have new foreign

pitcher Shaun Anderson in his KBO debut. In the preseason, Anderson gave up just two earned runs in 15 innings across three outings.

For the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, ace Raul Alcantara will mark his return to the KBO against the Lotte Giants. Alcantara also started the first game of the 2020 season but spent the ensuing two seasons in Japan before reuniting with the Bears last winter.

The Giants will have right-hander Dan Straily on the rubber for the third straight Opening Day. Straily pitched in the KBO in 2020 and 2021, and left for the United States before rejoining the Giants in the middle of last year.

The LG Twins-KT Wiz game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, about 35 kilometers south of Seoul, will feature an all-American starting pitching matchup.

Wes Benjamin, a midseason acquisition for the Wiz last year, will make his first Opening Day start. The left-hander was 5-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 17 starts in the regular season and also enjoyed a strong postseason.

For the Twins, Casey Kelly will make his second career Opening Day start here, and his first since 2019.

Kelly is the highest-paid foreign player this season at $1.8 million.

The Samsung Lions will host the NC Dinos at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 235 km southeast of Seoul, with right-hander David Buchanan making his third straight Opening Day start.

Buchanan has been one of the KBO’s top starters since his arrival in 2020, with a 42-20 record and a 3.20 ERA.

The Dinos will have first-year import Erick Fedde on the hill. The former Washington Nationals pitcher held opponents to a run in 12 2/3 innings covering three starts in the preseason.

Sports

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2023-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thekoreatimes.pressreader.com/article/282149295574230

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