It was an unexpected injury. A sudden microfracture of a rib in the middle of a four-game winning streak.
I was in pain for two months. I kept taking painkillers and throwing. The MRI didn’t show anything, and my throwing was good, so I kept pitching. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t sleep, and the fifth MRI revealed the fracture, and I had to rest.
We’re talking about Uhm Sang-baek, the KT Wiz’s fastball sidearm pitcher. Last year’s wins leader, Uhm went 7-6 with a 3.63 ERA this season. His pitching was up and down until June, but improved in July. He consistently pitched more than six innings to lead his team to victory, and the team won four games in a row from July 28 against NC to August 16 against Doosan. However, the victories were hindered by the pain of pitching while taking painkillers.토스카지노
“I was in pain the whole time, but the (MRI) didn’t show it, so I had to go to the doctor…. The team keeps winning and winning…. “I was sick at the beginning of the game, so I couldn’t control my pitches, but when I warmed up, they came out well, but I was still taking painkillers,” he said.
After the microfracture was discovered, it was also difficult to stay still until the bone fused together. “It was the first time I broke a bone in my life, and I couldn’t do anything. It was hard to live, so I just lay there,” he says.
Now he can throw without pain. On the 18th, he successfully completed his first live pitch. KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “The data such as the number of revolutions is almost the same as when I threw before. I think I just need to raise my velocity,” he said, adding, “I plan to raise my pitch count to 60 before the playoffs.”
Uhm Sang-baek also said, “I didn’t feel awkward after throwing for a long time,” adding, “It’s not a huge pitch, but I tried to throw a lot of strikes, and I think it was fine because it went into the zone a lot.”
He will be used as a middle reliever, not a starter. The only reliable arms in KT’s bullpen are set-up man Park Young-hyun and closer Kim Jae-yoon. It’s hard to make the playoffs with just them, and since Uhm isn’t in shape to throw 100 pitches, it’s better to have him in the middle.