NC Dinos starting pitcher Song Myung-ki walks into the dugout after throwing a scoreless inning in the bottom of the third inning during the semifinal round of the baseball ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason' between the NC Dinos and SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea, on Oct. 23.
The next start for “Super Ace” Eric Peddie (NC Dinos) will be in Game 5 of the playoffs or Game 1 of the Korean Series, which could have a huge impact on NC's chances of winning their second Korean Series title.
The best-case scenario for NC would be to end the playoffs in Game 4 and use Pedi in Game 1 of the Korean Series.
In this case, Pedi could pitch 2-3 games in the Korean Series, and the math works out that it's worth it for NC to give the ‘regular season champions' LG Twins a shot. Plus, Pedi would get two extra days of rest. This is the last thing LG wants as they await the playoff winner in the Korean Series.
NC Pedi looks at the ground in the ninth inning of the third round of the baseball ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason' playoff game between NC Dinos and KT Wiz at Changwon NC Park in Yangdeok-dong, Masanmyeon-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam, on the afternoon of Nov. 2.
However, if NC loses Game 4 to KT Wiz, Pedi will pitch in Game 5 of the playoffs. Pedi could be used as a last card, but after two straight wins, a team that loses two in a row is not guaranteed to win, as the mood will sink.
In the end, NC's best bet is to catch KT in Game 4 and advance to the Korean Series, and starting pitcher Song Myung-ki will be crucial to that.
After playing seven games in this postseason, the NC squad has accumulated fatigue. From the middle of the second game of the playoffs, it was evident that the players were physically exhausted and their performance was declining. In the aftermath, in Game 3, NC looked the most lethargic in baseball this fall.
It's doubtful that the NC bats will be as hot as they were in Game 1 against William Cuevas in Game 4.
NC will need to keep the game as close as possible without giving up the lead, which will depend on how many innings Song Myung-ki can pitch and how well he can shut down the KT bats.
In the second round of the semifinals, Song Myung-ki was taken off the mound early in the fourth inning after struggling mightily. It was his third straight early exit, including the last two games of the regular season.
KT and NC will face off in the fourth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason Playoffs (best-of-five, best-of-three) at NC Park in Changwon, Gyeongnam, on Wednesday.
NC's bullpen is relatively weaker than KT's, and the pitching staff of Kim Young-gyu, Ryu Jin-wook, and Lee Yong-chan is not exactly light on their shoulders. Another early collapse of Song Myung-ki would be a huge burden for NC, who will also have to worry about the final five games.
Song's most innings pitched in a game this year was 6⅔ innings (2 runs) against KT Suwon on August 12. The NC bench is hoping that Song will pitch like he did three months ago in Game 4 of the playoffs.
If Song doesn't lose the starting battle to Cuevas, Game 4 could be a back-and-forth affair. If that happens, NC has a shot. 19가이드03
