Established in 1882, the St. Louis Cardinals have 11 World Series championships and are one of the most prestigious teams in the Major League. They are also famous for their great loyalty. Although the population in metropolitan areas is the smallest in the league, local fans have shown great support to them, making them one of the top five in average attendance every year since 2012.
St. Louis fans boast a mature viewing culture as well as its long history. In the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on the 12th (Korean time), Paul Skins (22), the rookie pitcher of the opposing team, gave an unusual standing ovation when he left the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. 토토사이트 추천
Skins overwhelmed the St. Louis batters with five hits, no outs and no outs, and eight strikeouts during six ⅓ innings. Skins, who overwhelmed the first 10 batters perfectly until the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, struck out Pedro Pazas with a swing and struck out Michael Ciani with a grounder to the first base in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out and runners on the second and third bases.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Skins ended the inning by guiding Paul Goldschmidt to a double play with a grounder to the third base, but took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with 0-0 situation due to lack of support from the batters. He struck out the first batter Nolan Gorman with a swing and miss, but was substituted with one out and second base after being hit by Nolan Arenado.
Skins, who handed over the mound to left-handed bullpen Aroldis Chapman with 103 pitches in total, came down regretfully. At that moment, spectators from the third base at Busch Stadium stood up one by one and gave a standing ovation to Skins. He gave encouragement to players on the opposing team, not even St. Louis players, but also players on rival teams in the Central Division of the National League, who showed impressive pitching to the rookie players.
According to local media including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Skins said after the game, “To be honest, I didn’t know at that moment. I was a little angry because I went down after a hit,” adding, “I learned what happened belatedly. It was cool. It felt unrealistic. They are truly amazing fans.”
Regardless of his win or loss, he was treated like this because he is a special player who is drawing attention in the entire league. Right-hander Skins, who was drafted by Pittsburgh as the first overall pick in the first round at last year’s draft, is a fire bowler who throws fastballs with an average speed of approximately 100 mph in a huge ball measuring 198 centimeters tall and weighing 106 kilograms.
As a talented pitcher, he garnered great attention early on, and made his Major League debut on April 12. He has been showing off his power with three wins and no losses with a 2.43 ERA in six games since his debut. He allowed only six walks while striking out 46 in 33 ⅓ innings. He also has an excellent detailed record with 12.42 strikeouts per nine innings, 0.96 WHIP and a 2.13 batting average.
The four-seam fastball, which averages 99.3 miles per hour (159.8 kilometers) per hour, has five types of pitches, including splitter, slider, curveball, and change-up. Although classified as a splitter, the “Splinker” is fast and falls well, with an average speed of 94.4 miles (151.9 kilometers) per hour. He has demonstrated that he is a monster pitcher with a different level in the first six games since his debut.
Fire bowlers tend to be unstable in their control, but Skins gave up just six walks in the first six games since his debut. He became the first pitcher to have more than 45 strikeouts and less than six walks in the first six games since Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees in 2014.