The July uprising, sparked by the Doosan Bears’ explosive run, has finally spread to the top of the standings. Taking advantage of the lull in the traditional powerhouses, teams from the bottom of the standings have begun to chip away at the top two.
Unfamiliar names dominated the top of the monthly leaderboards. Doosan remained at the top of the leaderboard with an unstoppable winning streak, followed by KT Wiz and KIA Tigers as of the 26th game, and Hanwha Eagles. Coincidentally, all of these teams were not in the top five until late last month.
Doosan, who went undefeated in July and put together the longest winning streak in franchise history, suddenly jumped to third place. They are now within striking distance of knocking the second-place SSG Landers off the top spot with a head-to-head sweep. The team’s pitching has been very balanced lately, as they lead the league in both monthly team ERA and batting average.카지노
The other three teams have also solidified their power. KT has been on a steady climb and has maintained a top-tier winning percentage for two months in a row. They were initially picked to win the title for a reason, and they’ve really come on strong since returning from injury. Wes Benjamin has shown signs of resurgence, winning his last three games in a row.
Hanwha and Kia, who are tied for the top team batting average in July, are looking to improve on their five-win season with the help of their complete batting lineups.
NC’s form is also a factor. The team’s mood before the end of the first half was tense. Senior Park Gun-woo was sent to the second team due to an attitude controversy, and the team’s performance did not rebound after that.
But things changed in the second half. After winning two games in the final series before the All-Star Game, NC picked up the momentum by taking the second half of the series in three games.
With so many teams going up, there are also teams going down. LG Twins and SSG, who seemed to be building a solid two-headed monster, have both fallen into a slump, going just 3-6 this month, leaving the mid-table chasers in the dust. The problem is that their “losing formulas” are tied to inherent insecurities. LG’s problem is on the mound. Their bats and bullpen are among the best in the league, but their starters aren’t quite up to par. SSG’s problem is their bullpen. In fact, this month, LG’s starting staff has a 6.45 ERA and SSG’s bullpen has a 6.23 ERA, ranking 10th and 8th in the league, respectively.
The Lotte Giants and Kiwoom Heroes, who were in the middle of the pack until last month, have also been on a downward spiral. Lotte is suffering from a slump in Noh Jin-hyuk, while Kiwoom is dealing with an injury to their top hitter Lee Jung-hoo.