The winning rate of 50% over six years is "just twice" this year, and the secret to "escape from Slowstarter" is "a solid 5th starter."

The winning rate of 50% over six years is "just twice" this year, and the secret to "escape from Slowstarter" is "a solid 5th starter."

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KT Wiz is enjoying an amazing early pace. With 13 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw, and a 0.565 win rate for this season, KT is ranked second with a five-game gap with the leading LG Twins.먹튀검증

KT is considered a favorite every year, but its current ranking is awkward. It is because it is a "slowstarter" who struggles at the beginning of every season. In 2023, the team struggled until May, with a 50% win-loss margin of "-14," and last year, it was at the bottom of the list, with more than 10 losses than wins at the beginning of the season.

In fact, it is surprising that KT has a winning rate of over 500 percent at this time of the year. Since 2019, when KT coach Lee Kang-chul took office, the only time that KT had a winning rate of 500 percent at the time of 24 games was in 2021 (0.583, 14 wins and 10 losses). At that time, KT was also in second place. And that year, KT won its first regular season title and topped the Korean Series.

The atmosphere seems to be similar this year as well. The biggest feature of the team is its solid starting lineup. In 2021, KT had five strong starting pitchers – Ko Young-pyo, Audrysamer Despaigne, William Cuevas, Cho Hyung-joon, and Jo Je-seong. There was also an all-weather "six starting pitcher" named Eom Sang-baek. At that time (24 games), KT's team ERA was solid at 3.86 (third in the league).

In 2025, KT has made five clear starters. Enmanuel de Heysus, Cuevas, Ko Young-pyo, So Hyung-joon and Oh Won-seok are forming stable starters. Currently, KT ranks first in ERA with 2.48. The team has even better performance than three years ago when it won the title.

In fact, over the past three years when KT was considered a "slowstarter," it failed to set up a proper starting lineup. As Cuevas was sidelined with an injury in 2022, it had to recruit a new foreign pitcher (Wes Benjamin), and as such, Soh Dong-joon was sidelined with the injury in 2023. Last year, Bae Je-seong joined the military and Soh's rehabilitation training overlapped. As the starting lineup was not properly formed, it was difficult to gain momentum in the early days of the season.

KT coach Lee Kang-chul also cited the starting lineup as the driving force for his early performance in the season. Manager Lee Kang-chul said, "It's the strength of the mound that's holding up this well right now. Ko Young-pyo and Cho Hyung-joon are leading a lot of innings with a small number of pitches, which gives me a sense of stability. The batting line is sluggish now, but I think I'm winning this much thanks to my good defense of one or two points on the mound."

The key, however, is hitting. KT ranks sixth in the league with a batting average of 0.252. The team ranks lowest in both RBIs (87th and 9th) and runs (94th and 8th). In 2021, the team was ranked first with a batting average of 0.293. The combination of pitching and batting led the team to win the title.

As the game continues to be tight, there is a risk of overloading the mound. "I am struggling (physically) although I am constantly using the winning team due to the increasing number of tight matches these days. However, I have to hold out early when the pitching staff is stable like this. I hope the batters will recover soon," said Lee Kang-chul.