Wes Benjamin (30-KT Wiz) and Shin Min-hyuk (24-NC Dinos) will face off in the second round of the 2023 KBO Playoffs (PO).
KT and NC announced Benjamin and Shin as the starting pitchers for Game 2 of the PO at 6:30 p.m. on March 31 at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon.
In the first game of the PO on Oct. 30, NC won 9-5 behind starter Eric Peddie’s 6 1/3 innings of one-run, 12-strikeout pitching and a hot bat.
Benjamin, who went 15-6 with a 3.54 ERA in the regular season this year, will make his first start since suffering a season-ending injury 25 days ago.
Benjamin threw just 20 pitches against the Samsung Lions on April 6, his first start in two weeks due to fatigue, before leaving the game early with left arm soreness.
Since then, he’s been working hard to get back to 100 percent and pitched three scoreless innings in the team’s self-evaluation game on the 26th.
However, he was relatively weak against NC this season, going 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA in three games.
He had his highest ERA and fourth-highest batting average (.279) against NC than against the other eight organizations.
Jason Martin led the way with seven hits and one RBI, while the top of the lineup, including Park Gun-woo (eight hits and two RBI), Park Min-woo (nine hits and two RBI), and Son Ah-seop (nine hits and three RBI), also found success against Benjamin.
Starting for NC will be Shin Min-hyuk, who is making his second postseason appearance of the year.
In 24 starts this season, Shin is 5-5 with a 4.02 ERA. In relief, he has a 3.60 ERA in five games and 10 innings pitched.
Benjamin may not have the numbers, but he has plenty of confidence.
In his fall baseball debut, Shin Min-hyuk pitched 5⅔ innings of one-hit ball with one walk and three strikeouts in the first round of the semifinals to help his team win.
His record against KT isn’t bad either.
In five games against KT this season, he is 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA. Their batting average is 0.266.
However, Jang Sung-woo (4-for-3) and Kim Min-hyuk (11-for-4 with one home run and four RBIs) have been strong against Shin.
Moon Sang-chul (6 hits, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 4 RBI) and Park Kyung-soo (6 hits, 2 doubles) also hit well against Shin Min-hyuk. 스포츠토토
