The honor of KBO League August MVP went to foreign pitcher William Cuevas (33), who is leading the KT Wiz by storm. In particular, when a bench clearing incident occurred during a home game against the LG Twins last week, Cuevas took the lead more than anyone else and showed his dignity in comforting the players. And although he didn’t win MVP, he had another winner. It was Noh Si-hwan (23) of the Hanwha Eagles, an ‘emerging slugger’ who received the most enthusiastic support from fans.
On the 11th, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced that Cuevas was selected as the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League August Monthly MVP. Cuevas received overwhelming support, receiving a whopping 25 votes (83.3%) out of a total of 30 votes cast by reporters. Although in the fan vote, he received only 23,562 votes (6%) out of 390,207 votes, with a total score of 44.40 points, he eventually recorded a total score of 44.69 points with the support of the press, and was honored with his first MVP award. It has been about two years since pitcher Go Young-pyo in September 2021 that a KT Wiz player won the monthly MVP.토스카지노
Cuevas achieved fantastic results with 5 wins, no losses, and an ERA of 0.50 in 5 games in the month of August. Cuevas proved what an ace he is by taking responsibility for more than 7 innings in all 5 games he appeared on the mound. He also pitched scoreless games in three of the five games he appeared in in August. He pitched seven scoreless innings against SSG on August 2nd, against Doosan on August 15th, and against Hanwha on August 20th. In the remaining two games, against Hanwha on August 8th, he gave up 1 run in 7 innings, and against Lotte on August 27th, he pitched well, allowing 1 run in 8 innings, and recorded a quality start plus (7 or more innings as a starter, 3 earned runs or less) in all games in August. He showed off his prowess in recording. Strikeouts also ranked second in this category, with 37, an average of more than 1 per inning.
In addition, Cuevas recorded wins in all five games he appeared in, ranking first in the number of wins. Cuevas, who won five games in August alone, is recording 8 wins and 0 losses on the season. Now, if you record 2 or more wins without losing, you can aim for the ‘100% win rate’ award, which is awarded to players with 10 or more wins.
In fact, Cuevas may not have returned to the KBO League. Cuevas, who joined KT in 2019, played a total of 82 games over four seasons until last year, playing the role of an ace with 33 wins, 23 losses, and an average ERA of 3.89. In particular, after winning 13 wins in 2019, he accumulated double-digit wins for two consecutive seasons with 10 wins in 2020. Then, in 2021, after earning 9 wins in the regular season, he took the mound with the important task of starting in the pennant race tiebreaker (first place match) against the Samsung Lions. And he led the team to the regular season championship with the best pitching of 7 innings, allowing 1 hit, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks, and no runs. In the end, he took the mound in the first game against the Doosan Bears in the Korean Series and took the lead in dominating the game with a great pitch, allowing 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, and 1 run (1 earned) in 7⅔ innings, and eventually lifted the championship trophy.
Cuevas dropped out of the 2022 season due to injury after only winning one game in two games. Even though he left KT at the time, he said it was not a complete farewell and shared a special affection with his teammates. And then the opportunity to return to KT came again. Foreign pitcher Bo Schulser (1 win, 7 losses, ERA 5.62), who started this season, performed poorly, leaving a void in the foreign pitcher position. In the end, KT reached out to Cuevas again. Before joining KT, Cuevas played for the Triple A Oklahoma City Dodgers under the LA Dodgers this season. There were no problems with his physical condition or sense of play. In the end, KT succeeded in re-recruiting him by paying a total of $450,000 (about 580 million won). Although he joined midway, his performance is truly at an all-time high. Starting in 14 games this season, he posted good results with 8 wins, no losses, an ERA of 3.09, 79 hits (3 home runs), 16 walks, 74 strikeouts, 29 runs (29 earned runs) in 84⅓ innings, a WHIP (on base allowed per inning) of 1.13, and a hit rate of 0.248. there is. There are 10 quality start pitches.
In particular, Cuevas had no problems adapting because he had already experienced the Korean stage. He integrated well into the team and led the KT mound again. In the game against the LG Twins held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 7th, when the bench was cleared in the 9th inning, he quickly left the dugout. He then approached Park Hae-min, who was bound to be angry, and then patted his chest and comforted him. Although he was a stranger, it was a scene that showed the dignity of an ace who was considerate of the feelings of his opponent. In the end, thanks to this, the bench clearing was completed without any untoward incident.
Cuevas deserved to be selected as MVP, but fan sentiment went elsewhere. And another winner was Noh Si-hwan, the next-generation slugger who will lead not only the Hanwha Eagles but also Korean baseball. Noh Si-hwan received only 1 vote in the press vote. However, he received more than 45% of the support in the fan poll, garnering a whopping 170,674 votes. The total score was 23.54 points, ranking second after Cuevas. Noh Si-hwan played in 22 games in August, recording a batting average of 0.244 (20 hits in 82 at-bats), 24 RBIs, and 15 runs, and he hit as many as eight home runs. It was a record that showed Noh Si-hwan’s consistent instinct as a big hitter, as he had previously hit 2 in April and 7 in May, and then hit 6 each in June and July. Noh Si-hwan also took first place in monthly home runs and RBIs. Noh Si-hwan has played in 118 games this season and is achieving outstanding results with a batting average of 0.304 (142 hits in 467 at-bats), 30 home runs, 96 RBIs, 77 runs, 66 walks, 105 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.563, an on-base percentage of 0.393, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.956. Noh Si-hwan, who won his first monthly MVP award in July, spent a meaningful time receiving the most support from fans.