The season of the Doosan Bears has come to an end. Looking back at the season, there were certain gains as well as regrets.메이저놀이터

Doosan posted 74 wins, 68 losses and two draws, and a winning rate of 0.521. Coincidentally, the performance is the same as last year. However, Doosan elevated its performance by one notch from fifth to fourth.

It was regrettable in the fall baseball season. Compared to the KT Wiz, which had advanced to the fifth place for the first time in its history, it lost for two consecutive games and suffered a setback in its elimination. It became a scapegoat for advancing to the semi-playoff for the first time in its history as a fifth-ranked team, drawing strong public outcry from many fans.

Looking back at the past season, however, Doosan was not just disappointing. Ahead of this season, many teams did not classify Doosan as a strong team. Doosan, which played in the Korean Series for the seventh consecutive year, has entered a new season with no one considering it as a strong team back then.

Raul Alcantara and Brandon Waddell, who were expected to become the strongest foreign pitching duo, began to leave early in the season due to injuries. A total of four foreign pitchers, including substitute players, only had 230 ⅔ innings, 15 wins and 14 losses, and 4.29 ERA. It was definitely the least assisted foreign pitcher among the 10 clubs, and was the biggest cause of Doosan's starting to twist this season.

At a time when bullpen pitchers are increasingly dependent on each other, they have had a great harvest. Kim Taek-yeon (19), the second-ranked rookie in the league, has been reborn as the closing pitcher representing the league since June, when Jung Cheol-won and Hong Geon-hee settled in the closing position where they revealed their anxiety one after another.

In 60 games, 65 innings, 3 wins, 2 losses, 19 saves, 4 holds, ERA 2.08. Kim, who broke the record of most saves (16 saves in the previous year) as a rookie with a high school diploma, is considered the 0th most promising candidate for Rookie of the Year. Furthermore, chances are high that he will play at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 next month. As manager Lee Seung-yeop said, he is now a treasure of Doosan, which has grown beyond Doosan Bears' Kim Taek-yeon to Korea's Kim Taek-yeon.

The fruits of Lee Byung-hun (21) and Choi Ji-gang (23), who provided opportunities to Kim Taek-yeon, were also very valuable. Lee played in 77 games (65 ⅓ innings), the most among pitchers in his team, and played 6 wins, 1 loss, 1 save, 22 holds, and ERA 2.89, growing into a left-handed bullpen that will take care of the future of his team.

Despite the injury, Choi Ji-gang also performed like an altoran with 50 innings in 55 games, 3 wins, 1 loss, 1 save, 15 holds, ERA 3.24. With Hong Gun-hee, Lee Young-ha and Kim Kang-ryul firmly behind, Doosan was proudly reborn as the No. 1 team in the bullpen ERA (4.54).

The revival of Doosan's track and field team was also encouraging. Last year, the stealer king, Jeong Su-bin (52 steals), remained strong, and Cho received the most opportunities since his debut, breaking the Bears' steal record and becoming the first title holder with 64 steals.

However, aside from the big aftermath caused by foreign pitchers, it was still a season that left a lot of concerns.

First of all, the team failed to resolve the shortstop problem that continued from last year. Starting with Park Joon-young, Jeon Min-jae, and Lee Yoo-chan, Kim Jae-ho (39) showed the most stability. During the season, coach Lee Seung-yeop publicly snatched shortstop position, saying, "I am disappointed at those in their 20s, and I have to do my best." However, it was Kim Jae-ho who also kept his position as shortstop in the fall baseball league.

The dependence on Doosan's veterans was not just a matter of shortstop. Among the players who played in more than 100 games, Kim Jae-hwan (36), Yang Eui-ji (37), Huh Kyung-min (34), Yang Seok-hwan (33), and Kang Seung-ho (30) recorded OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) of 0.800 or higher were all in their 30s.

Therefore, expectations are high on Park Joon-soon (19), who was named the top fielder of this season. "I chose the first infielder for the first round in a long time," Doosan's general manager Kim Tae-ryong said at the time of the rookie draft. "I judged him to be the best infielder of this year, who can play an important role as an infielder of Doosan for about 20 years. He is the best infielder of this year, worthy of five tools."

Park Joon-soon, who officially greeted his fans as the first pitchman for the final Doosan home game on the 24th of last month, told reporters, "I will try to be a great player like Heo Kyung-min," adding, "I will try to meet the expectations of the team."

Although his team evaluates him as a resource for second basemen, he can also challenge himself to third basemen and shortstop in some cases. He is expressing his desire for shortstop himself.

Park Joon-soon's growth can be a solution to Doosan's shortstop woes and high dependence on veterans at the same time. Doosan, which is considered to be "dry in the pot," has high expectations for Park Joon-soon, who was brought as the No. 1 fielder.