Hwang Seongbin’s pitch clock is broken because he’s working hard

Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung expressed his view on Hwang Sung-bin's play.

Lotte Giants will face off against KT Wiz at 6:30 p.m. on the 19th in the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League.

Ahead of the match, manager Kim Tae-hyung said on the previous day (18th) about the bench-clearing situation and Hwang's play, "Sung-bin (Hwang) has a lot of routines like Park Han in the past at bat. It would be the same if other players did so," adding, "I think that could be a concern for the opposing team."

"If you keep talking about this, it can discourage players, so I'm careful to tell you," coach Kim said. "All the players are working hard, but if they focus on one thing, it's not easy to think about what they're doing. There can be parts like that because you're immersed in it. You have to pay attention to the pitch clock violation."

Bench clearing occurred during the game between LG and Lotte at Jamsil Stadium the previous day. The situation came after Lotte's attack in the top of the third inning. With two outs and runners on the second base. The second baseman was Hwang Sung-bin. The batter was Jeon Joon-woo. Kelly then led Jeon to a foul fly out to the first baseman to wrap up the inning.

On the way back to the dugout after finishing the inning, LG's starting pitcher Kelly looked towards Lotte and said something. On the screen, it seemed that he said something through Lotte's Hwang Seong-bin. Unlike usual, Kelly seemed somewhat enraged.

Then, Jeon reacted and approached the home plate and put down the bat he was holding in his hand. Then, as players from both teams rushed to the ground, bench-clearing exploded. In the process, veteran LG catcher Heo Do-hwan became enraged and appeared to approach Lotte's squad. Several LG players stopped Heo.

Under the circumstances, it is interpreted that Kelly reacted to Hwang Sung-bin's appearance at bat earlier. After hitting, Hwang hit a foul ball toward the third base and then sprinted toward the first base. Although LG third baseman Moon Bo-kyung had already caught the foul ball, Hwang ran toward the first base until the end. Then, after confirming that it was a foul, he returned to the batter's box, and Kelly waited for Hwang for a while in the process. There was also a scene where Kelly expressed his discomfort about returning to the batter's box somewhat slowly. Hwang was warned of a pitch clock violation.

Afterwards, Hwang garnered a hit to the right field against Kelly and successfully got on base. Then, Hwang advanced to the second base while Kelly's ball to check the first base fell behind. It was Kelly's mistake in throwing. Earlier, Kelly allowed a hit and a stolen base in his first showdown with Hwang from the top of the first inning, which eventually led to lost points.

Against this backdrop, it appears that Kelly directly expressed dissatisfaction with Hwang after the top of the third inning. Fortunately, the war of nerves between the two teams did not last long. Bench clearing ended without any major physical conflict.

BY: 토토