Will KT Wiz get its first non-free agent multi-year contract? When I look at Young-pyo Ko’s pitching this season, all I can think about is grabbing him before he becomes a free agent.
I can’t imagine where KT Wiz would be without him.
Foreign pitchers Wes Benjamin and Bo Schuler have been jagged and unreliable, and young ace Choi Min-joon is out for the season after undergoing elbow ligament surgery. Last year’s wins leader, Uhm Sang-baek, hasn’t shown the same dominant form.
However, Ko Young-pyo is fulfilling the role of ace. On the 24th, he started a home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at KT Wiz Park in Suwon and pitched a perfect game, allowing no runs on four hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.
With top right-hander Ahn Woo-jin on the mound, an uphill battle was expected, but while Ko shut down the Kiwoom bats, the offense was able to chip away at the deficit and win 4-1.
It was the third win for Ko Young-pyo, and KT’s hopes for a breakthrough were boosted as they closed to within one game of the ninth-place Hanwha Eagles.
Ko is one of the few pitchers who has been pitching well since returning from the WBC. After warming up in the ninth inning against the Suwon LG Twins on April 2 with two strikeouts, Ko earned his first win on April 7 against the Lotte Giants with seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball. In his second start, on April 12 against the Changwon NC Dinos, he gave up five runs on eight hits in 5⅔ innings, but in his next four games, he went seven innings or more and posted a quality start. Ko Young-pyo, who went 2-1 without much support from his bats, had a poor outing against the LG Twins in Jamsil on April 18, giving up eight runs on 12 hits in 4⅔ innings. It seemed like he was still feeling the effects of throwing around 100 pitches.
But in his very next start on April 24 against Kiwoom, he erased those worries. His pitching was more complete, with no four-pitchers.
In all but two of his eight starts, he’s had a quality start plus six times. That’s more than any other pitcher.
Ko Young-pyo, who was selected with the 10th pick of the 2014 second round, is a witness to KT’s mountainous history. Since returning from the military in 2021, he has been an ace. He won 11 games in 2021 and 13 last year, leading the team to the title and a third straight postseason appearance. This season, he continues to be one of the most reliable pitchers in the starting rotation and has been a rock for the team.스포츠토토
Ko will be a free agent after next season. Any team would love to have an innings-eater like him. Fans are clamoring for him to sign a multi-year contract after this season.
However, KT has never given a multi-year contract to a prospective free agent. Even before this season, there were speculations that the team would sign closer Kim Jae-yoon to a multi-year contract, but KT only signed him to a one-year deal.
Of course, multi-year contracts are also a risk. While a typical free agent is based on a four-year contract, a non-free agent multi-year contract is based on a five-year contract, so the price is higher. However, you can’t just walk away from a multi-year contract because you might get snatched up by another team when you become a free agent. If Ko Young-pyo continues to play well, KT will have to make a decision.