Pitchers Throw Outside to Get Foreign Batters Out

Whenever Cliff Brumbaugh of the Hyundai Unicorns and Mendy Lopez of the Samsung Lions come up to the plate, the catchers move slightly to the right side of home plate. Is it some kind of sign to lead pitchers which way to throw the ball? Not necessarily. The catchers only make signs on whether to throw fastballs or curves. It is simple; there is only one way to tackle these foreign players, and that is to throw outside.

In the first four games of the Korean Series, Lopez never had any chance to see inside pitches. Hyundai’s pitching staff persistently sticks to outside balls. Subsequently, Lopez, who prefers inside pitches, has not been able to produce good hits.

Lopez has been able to send the ball to the left side only once, when he hit a home run in the sixth inning of Game 1.

Over the four games, Lopez has been 1-for-11, with a batting average of .091, and two RBIs. His MVP-winning performance during the playoff series against the Doosan Bears is being overshadowed by his poor record in the Korean Series, drawing some hasty speculation that he might not return to Korea after the season is over.

Brumbaugh is also having a hard time adjusting to the pitches on the outside. Samsung pitchers, who have given up two home runs to Brumbaugh in the first two games, decided to take extreme measures, giving up on throwing inside and only facing him with pitches outside. It is less likely pitches will allow extra-base hits with balls that only barely make it within the strike zone. Even though the pitch is called a ball, walking a batter is still better than allowing base hits.

Hyundai’s cleanup hitter Brumbaugh was 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the two games played in Daegu. When outside pitches were called strikes, he took it out on the umpires.

In total, Brumbaugh has been sluggish in the Korean series, going 2-for-15 with a batting average of .133, two home runs, and two RBIs.

As of now, there is no solution for the foreign batters’ struggle against outside pitches. A hitter cannot overcome what hinders him in just one day. The only option left is to hope for careless pitches from the opposing pitcher.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com