SSG Landers manager Lee Sung-yong said Saturday that his ace Drew Anderson is almost back to full health after a recent bout with stomach flu.
In fact, Lee said Anderson would be ready to pitch Sunday if the scheduled second game of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) first-round series against the Samsung Lions is postponed Saturday due to rain.
Anderson, who finished second overall in the KBO with 245 strikeouts and third with a 2.25 ERA this season, was unable to start the opener of this best-of-five series on Thursday after suffering stomach problems earlier in the week.
“He had a pretty good training session yesterday, and I was told he is in good shape now,” Lee said during his press briefing at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul. “He lost about 3 kilos because he wasn’t eating well.”
Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on the KBO playoff schedule. Game 2 has already been pushed back from Friday to Saturday, and Saturday’s game is expected to begin under threatening skies. If all goes according to plan, Anderson will start Game 3 Monday on the road in Daegu, about 235 km southeast of Seoul.
The Landers, despite being the higher seed at third, lost the first game 5-2, with Mitch White, starting in place of Anderson, allowing six hits, including a home run, and three walks in just two innings of work.
Lee shrugged off the loss and said, “During the regular season, we always handled adversity very well. I’m confident our players will bounce back today.”
Lions manager Park Jin-man, after stealing a road win, said he would spare no bullpen arm if he sensed an opportunity to earn a second straight victory.
“Since it’s a short series, we’ll have all of our relievers ready at the first sign of trouble from our starter (Gerson Garabito),” Park said. “We had an extra day off yesterday, and so our bullpen guys should all be good to go.”
Park also said he wasn’t paying much attention to the apparent mind game the Landers might be trying to play regarding Anderson’s status.
“We thought we had to face him at some point in this series,” he said. “We’ve got a good start here and we just have to focus on our own job.”
