Ryu-KK come in to pitch on Chuseok

Baseball fans will start their day early this Chuseok, also known as South Korean Thanksgiving Day, as Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals will come in to pitch an hour apart. Not only is this the first time two South Korean baseball players start games of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason, but they will also pitch on the same day. Ryu will start Game 2 against Tampa Bay Rays at 5:07 a.m. on Thursday, and Kim will start Game 1 against the San Diego Padres at 6:08 a.m. Much attention is being paid if the two pitchers, who both ended the season with a victory on Friday, will clinch a win again.

Ryu (5-2, ERA 2.69), the ace of the Blue Jays, will not be starting Game 1, which Charlie Montoyo described as a creative decision he made after much deliberation for the best of three playoff series. He will start Matt Shoemaker (1 loss, ERA 4.71) in the opener of a series for an unexpected play and go all out for Game 2 with Ryu. It will give Ryu a five-day break to recover after recording 100 pitches on Friday. However, some criticized the decision, calling Montoyo crazy. They said they should start the ace in the opener to stand a chance of winning against the Tampa Bay Rays that currently holds the American League’s best records.

Meanwhile, Cardinals’ Kim Kwang-hyun, for whom it was not sure if he would start any games of the series, has been chosen as the starting pitcher of the opener, not ace Jack Flaherty (4-3, ERA 3.15) nor veteran Adam Wainwright (4-3, ERA 4.91). Manager Mike Shildt said he made the decision because Kim (3-0, ERA 1.62) is the best pitcher in the team. It was also because batters of the San Diego Padres were not familiar with Kim. The San Diego Padres was the team that humiliated Kim by offering one million dollars when he was posted for MLB in 2014.


Kyu-In Hwang kini@donga.com · Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com