“Cuevas asked me if I was going to start today?”
Park Kyung-soo, 39, KT’s moral compass and top veteran, spoke to reporters ahead of the first round of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO postseason against NC at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Tuesday and shared his thoughts on playing in the fall for the fourth straight year. Park is batting ninth in the lineup as a second baseman.
Park said, “I prepared well for the playoffs. There were some bad parts, but I recovered well. Not only me, but all the players on the team utilized the three weeks well. We had a combination of rest and exercise,” Park said.
KT’s opponent is NC, which qualified for the postseason with a fourth-place finish in the regular season. NC won the wild-card deciding game against Doosan in one game and then pulled off an upset in the semifinals, sweeping third-place SSG in three games. NC ended the semi-playoffs in three games, giving them a honeyed four-day break.
Park said, “I watched the NC game very well. It was very cool, and they were very good. The momentum is good,” he said. “Everyone thinks differently, but everyone probably watched the NC game well. We prepared well. Fortunately, many players, including Ko Young-pyo and Benjamin, checked their physical condition and recovered through the blue-black match.”굿모닝토토
The team took longer than usual to analyze the power of Eric Peddy, who had 20 wins and 200 strikeouts. “Yesterday’s power analysis was quite long,” Park said. “We focused on what he did in the regular season based on individual data. In the regular season, it was Park Se-hyuk, and now it’s Kim Hyung-jun. We need to keep an eye on them early on. Also, it’s been a while since Pedi threw a live game. There will be many variables, including the number of pitches.”
He also revealed his conversation with William Cuevas, the ‘undefeated win percentage king’ who will start the game. “Cuevas asked me if I was starting today,” Park laughed, “I know that my role is more defensive than offensive. So I focused on the basics so that I could play good defense without making mistakes during the three weeks of practice.”
After tasting his first championship two years ago when he was named the Korean Series MVP, Park is looking for his second ring in two years. His regular season numbers were just 2-for-10 with one home run and 12 RBIs in 107 games, but KT is a different team with and without him.
“I think we had a miraculous year this year, so I think we can play fall baseball without any pressure,” Park said. “I’m not talking about complacency or laziness. I think we’ve been doing so well that we’ve created an atmosphere where we can enjoy ourselves. We’ve been doing so well, we don’t want to let this opportunity slip away.”