Shin Min-hyuk (24-NC Dinos) will start Game 5 of the playoffs (PO) for the Gunghon Ilchuk.
NC announced Shin Min-hyuk as the starter for Game 5 of the PO against the KBO’s KT Wiz at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon on Friday.
“We are considering a starting pitcher for Game 5 because Eric Peddy’s physical condition hasn’t fully recovered,” NC manager Kang Myung-ho said after Game 4 of the PO on the 3rd, adding, “Shin Min-hyuk is not bad.”
It wasn’t a smokescreen, it was real concern.
Pedi is a “super ace” who won three titles in the regular season this year, going 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA and 209 strikeouts.
In Game 1 of the PO, he pitched six innings of three-hit ball, allowing one run and striking out 12.
However, he will not start the final game of the best-of-five series.
As Kang said, Shin Min-hyuk is the “next best card” that NC can play.
Shin started Game 1 of the semi-finals against the SSG Landers and pitched 5⅔ innings of four-hit ball, but he was even better in Game 2, pitching 6⅓ innings of one-hit ball to earn his first postseason win.
In Game 2 of the PO, only one KT batter had a hit against Shin Min-hyuk, Moon Sang-chul.
Shin Min-hyuk went 5-5 with a 3.98 ERA in the regular season this year. Against KT in the regular season, he was 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA in five games.
In the autumn, Shin is on a 12-inning scoreless streak.
Despite losing two games after winning two, and not being able to start ace Pedi in Game 5, his NC teammates have a lot of confidence in him.
After the ‘unorthodox’ decision to start William Cuevas on ‘just three days’ rest in Game 4, which resulted in an 11-2 victory, KT went back to the ‘norm’ and started Wes Benjamin in Game 5.
Benjamin took the loss in Game 2 of the PO after giving up three runs on four hits, including one home run, in five innings.
He gave up a two-run homer to Park Gun-woo in the first inning and a leadoff triple to Kim Joo-won in the third inning, followed by an infield grounder.
In game two of the PO, Park Gun-woo (3-for-2), Park Min-woo (3-for-1) and Kim Joo-won (2-for-1) had hits off Benjamin.
Benjamin went 15-6 with a 3.54 ERA in the regular season this year. Against NC, he was 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA in three games.
Despite taking the loss in Game 2 of the PO, Benjamin pitched well.
“I’m 100 per cent back,” said Benjamin, who was hit in the thigh by a hard-hit ball in the fifth inning.
For Benjamin, who lost his start against Shin Min-hyuk in Game 2, Game 5 could be a chance to redeem himself.
“If I focus on my mechanics and pitch my own pitches, good things will happen,” Benjamin said motivatedly. 먹튀검증
