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Anchoring the KT WIZ bullpen this year, Park Young-hyun (19) is one of the most prolific bullpen pitchers in the league.

He has appeared in 66 games, the second most in the league after Kim Jin-sung (LG Twins-69).

In terms of bullpen innings, his 71⅓ innings are second only to Im Ki-young (75⅔ innings), who plays all-weather for the KIA Tigers.

Park, who pitched 51⅔ innings in 52 games last year in his rookie year, has taken on more important duties this year and developed into one of the league’s top bullpen arms.

As a result, he has been selected to the baseball team for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which is scheduled to convene on March 23.

For KT manager Lee Kang-cheol, the thought of being without Young-hyun gave him a headache throughout the season.

“I saw that Young-hyun had already pitched 70 innings. I was thinking of having him pitch 75 innings before going to the (Asian) Games, but he’s almost done,” Lee said at Katie Weeds Park in Suwon on Tuesday, adding, “I’ll have to stop using him now.”

With the LG Twins game scheduled for that day canceled due to rain, Young-hyun will play on the 21st and 22nd before joining the national team.

No matter how energetic a young player is, fatigue is bound to set in as he pitches into the final stretch of the season.

Lee said, “You can see that (Park) is tired. If you look at his fastball, Son Dong-hyun is better right now,” Lee said, “He has less velocity, but he has a very good ball speed. Also, Dong-hyun is good at inducing bunt hits, so he throws fewer pitches.”

KT will have Park Young-hyun and Kang Baek-ho in the Asian Games.

Young-hyun is a key member of the bullpen, while Kang Baek-ho recently returned to the lineup and is responsible for the long ball.

“It’s important for us to secure at least third place,” Lee said.

Currently, KT is in second place in the league, 6.5 games behind leader LG Twins and one game ahead of third-place NC Dinos. 토토사이트