Daniel Rios in 2007, Dustin Nippert in 2016, Josh Lindblom in 2019, and Ariel Miranda in 2021.
Those are the names of foreign pitchers who have won the KBO’s season MVP. And another thing. They all did it while playing for the Doosan Bears.
NC Dinos Eric Peddy will be the first non-Doosan pitcher to win the MVP award.
In the 2015 KBO season, there were more foreigners (five) 먹튀검증 than domestic players (three) who won the MVP award. This is due to the growing interest in detailed statistics such as Wins Above Replacement (WAR) since the 2010s, which has made the value of foreign players as one or two starters and center fielders on a team more apparent. Outsiders are also less often overlooked in awards ceremonies.
It’s also interesting to note that all of the previous non-Korean pitching MVPs were from Doosan. However, the NC is also responsible for the current dominance of outsiders with Eric Thames’ season MVP award in 2015.
Themes won the 2015 season MVP for the NC. Sports Chosun DB
The challenge for top honors is not easy. In the middle of the season, a strong contender emerged in Pedi’s MVP battle that seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Hanwha Eagles’ Noh Si-hwan.
This season, he has started 21 games and pitched 125⅓ innings, compiling a 15-5 record with a 2.01 ERA. He has 14 quality starts (6+ innings or less with 3 earned runs). He leads the league in wins and ERA, and is second in strikeouts (139) behind Ahn Woo-jin (160).
But August has been a thorny one. On August 2, she gave up the fewest innings (4) and most runs (5) in her debut against the Lotte Giants. He seemed to bounce back with a seven-inning no-hitter against the SSG Landers on the 8th, but then took the losses against the KT Wiz on the 13th (5 innings, 1 run) and Doosan on the 19th (6 innings, 2 runs) despite pitching well.
On the other hand, Noh’s pace is unreal. He hit eight home runs in August alone. He leads the league in home runs (29), RBIs (85), slugging percentage (5-for-7), and OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). His batting average has also surpassed the 3 percent mark (3-for-4).
The 2023 KBO League game between the KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles was held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 9th. Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan celebrates after hitting a three-run shot in the first inning. Suwon=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.08.09/
When asked about the future of the season’s MVP, NC manager Kang Myung-hwa, who met with the team at Jamsil Stadium on Tuesday, said, “Hitters and pitchers have different standards. I think it’s more favorable for the pitcher,” he said with a smile.
With such a phenomenal winning streak, there are still more than 40 games left in the regular season. Depending on the rest of the schedule, Pedi is expected to start about 10 more games.
“He’s had a couple of slow games, but if it comes down to it, he might pitch on four days’ rest,” Kang said, cautiously optimistic that the team could win five more games in the rest of the season. It’s not just an endorsement of his player, but a distinct possibility.
There’s also a lot of attention on the off-field. Noh has been named to the national team for the Hangzhou Asian Games. The team will convene in late September and compete in the Asian Games until early October. It is likely that he will miss more than 10 games.
While not as absolute as in the past, the sneaky outsiders and discounts for fall baseball eliminations are also key.
If he can get to 20 wins the rest of the season, and if he can get his ERA back down to the low 1’s, he’s definitely in with a chance. But there’s no shortage of anxiety. He hasn’t been in the best shape since the beginning of the season.
The 2023 KBO League game between the NC Dinos and Lotte Giants was held at Changwon NC Park on the 12th. NC Pedi. Changwon=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.07.12/
“The key is to regain my changeup feel,” Kang said. Because I was feeling insecure, I was relying too much on my changeup,” Kang said, adding, “The number of pitches is also increasing because the hitters have adapted to it visually.” He didn’t read too much into the previous day’s game, saying, “In the end, it was just a bad hit that ended up being the game-winner.”
“His mindset is still solid,” he said, but emphasized the batsmen’s commitment, noting that “early on, when he was out, we were scoring runs, but that’s not the case these days.”