Upstart contender to take on proven winner in S. Korean baseball championship series

▲ In this file photo from Sept. 28, 2021, KT Wiz third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun (R) chases Jose Miguel Fernandez of the Doosan Bears in a rundown in the top of the third inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, some 45 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from Oct. 31, 2021, members of the KT Wiz celebrate winning the Korea Baseball Organization regular season title after beating the Samsung Lions 1-0 in a tiebreaker game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ Members of the Doosan Bears celebrate after reaching the Korean Series for the seventh straight year on Nov. 10, 2021, following a 11-3 win over the Samsung Lions in Game 2 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from Oct. 31, 2021, William Cuevas of the KT Wiz pitches against the Samsung Lions in the bottom of the first inning of a Korea Baseball Organization tiebreaker game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ Lee Young-ha of the Doosan Bears pitches against the Samsung Lions in the top of the sixth inning during Game 2 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Jung Soo-bin of the Doosan Bears celebrates his RBI double against the Samsung Lions in the bottom of the ninth inning during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Nov. 9, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from Oct. 31, 2021, Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz hits an RBI single against the Samsung Lions in the top of the sixth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization tiebreaker game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Korean Series-preview

Upstart contender to take on proven winner in S. Korean baseball championship series

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- In their continued evolution from a downtrodden club into a legitimate contender, the KT Wiz will play in the Korean Series, the South Korean baseball championship final, for the first time in their seventh season in the league.

And they will be up against the Doosan Bears, a "been there, done that" team that has played in every Korean Series during the Wiz's existence and won it all three times.

This year's Korean Series, which begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, will pit the upstart contender chasing its first title against the proven winner trying to teach the young franchise a lesson or two.

Given the cold conditions of mid-November, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has decided to hold the entire series at the country's only domed ballpark as the neutral venue. But as the regular season champions, the Wiz will be the home team in the first two games and then the final three games of the best-of-seven series, if it goes that far.

The Wiz won the season series 9-7.

This will be the first Korean Series meeting between the two clubs. They squared off in the penultimate postseason stage last year, and the Bears prevailed in four games en route to their sixth straight Korean Series.

While the Wiz earned the bye to the Korean Series and haven't played since Oct. 31, the Bears, as No. 4 seed, had to scratch and claw their way through seven postseason games in a 10-day span beginning on Nov. 1.

First, the Bears knocked off the Kiwoom Heroes after two wild card games. Then they eliminated the LG Twins in three games in the best-of-three first round. On Wednesday, the Bears completed a two-game sweep of the Samsung Lions.

Having already overachieved to get this far, the Bears will be playing with house money against the Wiz in their bid to become the first fourth seed to win the Korean Series.

The Bears would be exhausted even in normal conditions. But they've reached the Korean Series without their two injured foreign starters, Ariel Miranda and Walker Lockett, and the workmanlike bullpen has pushed the club to heights few thought possible.

Lockett is out for season with an elbow injury, but Miranda, sidelined since late October with a fatigued shoulder, has resumed throwing and should be available in some capacity during the Korean Series.

In the absence of viable starters, relievers Lee Young-ha and Hong Geon-hui earned a victory apiece in the series win over the Lions with gutsy work out of the bullpen. And considering manager Kim Tae-hyoung's penchant for riding relievers hard, Lee and Hong are expected to figure prominently in the Korean Series.

The one legitimate starter left standing in earlier rounds had been Choi Won-joon, who has pitched four times since Oct. 26 and can't reasonably be expected to go deep into games in the Korean Series.

In contrast, the Wiz boast a deep rotation that led the KBO with a 3.68 ERA during the regular season, while also topping all rotations with 812 innings pitched. Their starters also gave up the fewest home runs in the league with 51 and had the most strikeouts with 704. Opponents had an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .664 against the Wiz starters, the worst mark in the KBO and nearly 60 points below league average.

Odrisamer Despaigne, William Cuevas, Ko Young-pyo, Bae Je-seong and So Hyeong-jun are all above-average starters, and manager Lee Kang-chul will have the luxury of using one of them as a swingman out of the bullpen in the series.

Their bullpen is no slouch, having posted the second-lowest ERA and opponents' OPS in the regular season.

When asked about facing the Wiz, Doosan manager Kim Tae-hyoung said Wednesday, "They have excellent pitching, all the way from starters to middle relievers and closer. In a short playoff series, teams with great pitching have an advantage."

They will have to keep the Bears' scorching bats in check. In seven postseason games so far, the Bears have scored 55 runs on 88 hits, effectively negating their lack of starting pitching depth.

Jung Soo-bin and Jose Miguel Fernandez, hitting from the top of the order, were voted MVPs in each of the past two rounds. They're threats to put the ball in play at any count and set the table for boppers behind them.

The Wiz don't lack for firepower, though. Kang Baek-ho flirted with the .400 batting average until the summer, and finished among the league leaders with 40 doubles and 102 RBIs. Jared Hoying, a midseason acquisition, ranked second in the league with 52 RBIs in the second half.

KT skipper Lee Kang-chul said, as proud as he was of his club, he was wary of the matchup against an experienced Bears club.

"Through the postseason, I was able to see once again what an excellent team Doosan is," Lee said. "Building on our experience of facing them last year, we'll go for the championship."

Captain Hwang Jae-gyun also said the Bears' championship pedigree shouldn't be overlooked but added, "We've come this far and we don't want to leave empty-handed. We're going to come together as one to win our first title."

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