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| SSG-LG match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. SSG won 7-3. The players are giving high fives. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.7/ |
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Before the opening of this season, few experts considered SSG Landers as a candidate for the top five in predictions centered on baseball players. However, at this rate, it seems that the semi-playoff will be possible.
Ahead of the 2025 season, SSG had no special power reinforcement. They did not actively jump into the FA market, and internal crackdowns such as Choi Jung and Noh Kyung-eun were more urgent. They signed a contract with generous conditions, but there was practically no 'plus' in the power itself. On top of that, there are many question marks for starters, bullpens, and batters. It was not surprising that SSG was not selected as a candidate for the top five at a time when prominent competitive teams were in good shape.
However, he showed a strong performance that was not too far behind from the beginning of the season, and began to rise in August as he steadily maintained his winning rate. The batters were considered the weakest ever, but their solid pitching power was the basis.
It reversed last year's assessment that there were weaknesses in pitcher management, and the number of available pitchers increased as the skills of pitchers in their 20s rose significantly this year. Despite the batting lineup's collective slump, he was able to withstand it because of his good pitching ability.
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| SSG-LG match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. SSG coach Lee Soo-yong is watching the game. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.7/ |
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And in the second half of the year, the team's winning rate soared as batters survived. The game against the LG Twins on the 7th was the focus of SSG's recent momentum. SSG pushed the No. 1 team LG from the beginning, which is about to win the regular season.
In particular, the success of targeting LG starter Lim Chan-kyu is an achievement that can be held legally. SSG has been particularly weak against Lim Chan-kyu in the last three years. In three seasons, Lim Chan-kyu pitched in 12 games against SSG, recording 9 wins, 2 losses and a 2.19 ERA. Even that, SSG lost five runs (four earned runs) in five innings in the game, which led to a slight increase in one loss and ERA. He has lost just one game in the last three years. He was a powerful natural enemy with an ERA of the first half of the two-point range.
However, he scored as many as five points against Lim Chan-kyu from the beginning and easily took the lead, and Kim Kwang-hyun added back-to-back hits and defensive errors in the middle of the game, but overwhelmed him with a stable bullpen, the team's biggest advantage in the second half. He won the final score of 7-3 by scoring a wedge in the top of the eighth inning, which was the final destination.
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| SSG-LG match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Cho Byung-hyun, the closing pitcher, takes the mound and pitches. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.7/ |
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a recent five-game winning streak. It is a total of four games played in September. For SSG, which has a good mound, the rest of the game schedule in September, when the game is being played, is rather a positive factor. There are many games in which the 4th and 5th starters are shaken, but the starting variables are reduced, and the bullpen can take a proper rest and go all out. The lineup, which has been struggling all season, is the best now since the opening. Fourth-ranked Samsung is catching up with a scary pace, but SSG is keeping its third place alone by gradually widening the gap. As of July 7, he is two games behind fourth-place Samsung. It was more than three games apart from KT and Lotte, which are ranked fifth and sixth. He was ahead only in the winning rate without a ride, but succeeded in breaking the gap by winning five consecutive games in just a week.
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| SSG-LG match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. SSG won 7-3. Kim Kwang-hyun, who achieved the 2000 strikeout record, is being baptized by his juniors after the game. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.7/ |
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Of course, it is still too early to let our guard down, but it is true that it is certainly in an advantageous position. The last hurdle is '6 away games in Youngnam, which runs from this week to early next week. SSG will play two consecutive games against NC in Changwon from the 9th to the 10th, then move to Daegu to play one game against Samsung, and then go back to Busan to play one game against Lotte in Busan on the 13th. They will be given two days off on Sunday and Monday, but they will move straight back to Changwon and play two games against NC on the 16th and 17th. If there is an interim rain cancellation game, the schedule may change again, but it is burdensome in many ways because you have to play on the road for nearly 10 days.
However, if SSG has a winning rate of more than 500% in these six away games, it could be a success of more than 80%. Unfortunately, they are all ranked competitors, so if they overcome this burden and produce results, they can board the postseason direct train.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
