JunPO MVP’ glasses must-have card, “It’s good enough that the team won, but to get an MVP” storms in
“I wasn’t expecting a semi-playoff MVP at all…”.
NC Dinos pitcher Young-gyu Kim was named the Most Valuable Player of the semifinals. After having his best season since making his professional debut in 2018 with a 2-4 record and 3.06 ERA in 24 appearances on the mound in 63 regular-season starts, Kim has pitched in all four postseason games, including the wild-card deciding game against Doosan on April 19, and has a 0.00 ERA. In particular, he made three appearances in the semifinals against SSG, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two appearances, helping NC achieve the upset.
After the third game of the semi-finals, Coach Kang said, “We struggled in the beginning of the game as we couldn’t score any runs after the first run, but the middle pitchers did their job well enough. We were able to finish the semi-playoffs in a good mood.” Kim Young-kyu, who was a key member of the pitching staff, was named the Semifinal MVP after receiving 37 of 78 votes (47.4 percent of the vote) from the media.
“It’s good to be out there a lot, and I’m happier when the team wins,” said Kim, who put his stamp of approval on all four postseason games. “Every time I took the mound, 먹튀검증 I focused on each batter and threw confidently, rather than thinking about throwing one or two innings, and that led to good results.”
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Kim Young-kyu, who revealed that he never expected to win the semifinal MVP award. “I didn’t expect it at all, because there were so-called crazy performances in every game, so I didn’t think I would get the MVP award,” he said. He continued, “It’s good enough that the team won, but I’m very grateful to be named MVP. I will do my best to pitch well in the playoffs,” he promised.
Continuing his winning streak in the fall after the Hangzhou Asian Games, Young-gyu said, “I don’t really have a special secret to pitching well in big games. “My brothers were very supportive during the Korean Series three years ago,” he said, “and now I’m pitching with the idea that I have to help the team win, which is leading to good pitching.
There’s also the effect of the Hangzhou Asian Games. “The experience I had at the Hangzhou Asian Games helped me a lot when I came back to Korea and pitched,” he said with satisfaction.
He plans to put his semi-playoff MVP award aside and focus on helping his team win the playoffs against KT. “KT’s hitters have a great ability to produce long balls and they are not an easy opponent, but we have a good batting lineup, so we will play with confidence,” said Kim, who added, “I don’t think we are outclassed by KT. I’ll do my best to pitch,” he said.
Meanwhile, the KBO will begin ticket sales for the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Playoffs between NC and KT starting at 6:30 p.m. today in Suwon.
Tickets for Games 1, 2, and 5 in Suwon will be available from 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. on the 26th, and Games 3 and 4 in Changwon will be available from 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on the 27th.
Tickets for the playoffs can be purchased by searching “playoffs” in the search bar of Interpark, the exclusive seller of postseason tickets, and up to four tickets per person via Interpark online, ARS, and the Interpark ticketing application on smartphones.
All postseason tickets will be sold in advance, with any cancellations going on sale at the venue starting two hours before kickoff.