N.C. Peddie returns to history after 37 years with another historic run.
The NC Dinos’ foreign ace, Eric Peddie (30), is about to break a 37-year old record for a one-run ERA.
Peddie started a home game against the Hanwha Eagles at Changwon NC Park on April 10 and pitched six innings of seven-hit ball, striking out six and walking one to lead the team to a 2-0 victory.
He took the mound in the seventh inning with a 2-0 lead and the bullpen closed out the game without allowing an earned run to improve to 20-6 on the season.
He increased his season strikeout total to 204 after recording 198 against Hanwha on Tuesday.
It has been 37 years since Sun Dong-yeol of the 1986 Hatta Tigers (24 wins, 214 strikeouts) achieved both 20 wins and 200 strikeouts in a single season.
He is the first foreign pitcher to do so and the fifth in the entire KBO. Previously, Jang Myung-bu of the Sammi Superstars in 1983 (30 wins, 220 strikeouts), Choi Dong-won of the Lotte Giants in 1984 (27 wins, 223 strikeouts), Kim Si-jin of the Samsung Lions in 1985 (25 wins, 201 strikeouts), and Sun Dong-yeol of the Hatta Tigers in 1986.
Pedi, who was one of the five starters on the Washington Nationals’ 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series championship team, was highly anticipated before the season began.
As expected, he was dominant, maintaining a sub-one ERA through August.
The season wasn’t all smooth sailing, however, as he was sidelined for over two weeks in June with elbow pain.
He returned on June 28 against the Doosan Bears and continued his ace-like form, but faltered in August. In his six August starts, he went 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA.
He was particularly bad against the KIA Tigers on August 31, giving up seven runs on eight hits and three walks in three innings. It was the most runs he had given up in the least amount of innings since joining the KBO.
But in September, he shook off his struggles. He went 3-0 with a 0.66 ERA in his first four games of the month, and continued his strong play in October, finally reaching the milestones of 20 wins and 200 strikeouts.
He also broke the franchise record for most wins in a season (19), set by Eric Hacker in 2015 and Drew Ruchinski in 2020.
In fact, the Triple Crown is now a lock.
He leads the league in wins and strikeouts. His 15 wins give him a five-game lead over second-place Wes Benjamin (KT Wiz), who has completed all of his regular-season games.
He is 40 strikeouts behind Woo-jin Ahn (Kiwoom Heroes), who has 164, but Ahn’s season was cut short due to elbow surgery. 온라인카지노 Third-place Raul Alcantara (Doosan Bears – 159) is also unable to overtake him in the remaining games.
It’s safe to say that the top spot in the ERA category is virtually assured. Second place is Woo-jin Ahn, who is out for the season, with a 2.39 ERA. Third-place David Buchanan (Samsung Lions – 2.51) is also hard to overtake.
The Triple Crown, which requires winning the wins, ERA, and strikeout titles at the same time, is also a feat that only three players have accomplished in the KBO’s 41-year history.
Sun Dong-yeol won the triple crown four times in 1986, 1989 and 1991, and Ryu Hyun-jin (then with the Hanwha Eagles) accomplished the feat in 2006 during his debut season. No pitcher has won the Triple Crown honor since Yoon Seok-min achieved it in 2011.
Pedi has virtually booked the fourth Triple Crown in 12 years and the first by a foreign pitcher.
The next big question is whether or not he’ll be able to match his ERA in starts.
With 174⅔ innings pitched and 40 earned runs allowed to date, Pedi needs one more start to bring his ERA down to 1.99 with six shutout innings.
We haven’t seen a one-run ERA in a start since Hyun-jin Ryu in 2010 (1.82). The last pitcher to record 20 wins and a 1.82 ERA in the same season was Hyun-Wook Kim of the 1997 Twin Peaks Raiders.
Sun Dong-yeol is the only pitcher to win the Triple Crown with a sub-1 ERA. In each of the years he won the Triple Crown, he had a sub-1 ERA.
NC has five games left in the regular season. They play the Doosan Doosan in Jamsil on the 12th, the LG Twins in Changwon on the 13th, the Samsung Lions in Changwon on the 15th, and a two-game series against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on the 16th and 17th.
The schedule allows for one more appearance.
However, depending on when the NC’s regular season standings will be determined and how they will finish, there may not be any additional appearances.
If he does, it will set the stage for a challenge for the record.