Among the many variables in this year’s baseball pennant race, one external factor is the Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin on Sept. 23. The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), which first fielded professional players in baseball games at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, has suspended the league whenever the Asian Games or Olympics are held due to team equity concerns, but this time around, it has decided to continue the regular season.

Instead, the league has put in place minimal safeguards to reduce the variation in power outflows, such as limiting the maximum number of borrowed players per team to three. On the one hand, teams could take comfort in the fact that they could call up their rosters in late September and early October, depending on their circumstances. This year, the remainder of the pennant race begins on September 11. By then, the days of five-game back-to-backs will be fewer and farther between, and depending on your strength, you’ll have more games to choose from and focus on.

However, this year’s residual schedule could be anything but typical. The summer has seen a rapid increase in rainouts, which could put a lot of pressure on late-season fixtures.

As of last weekend, 53 games had been rained out. Considering that only 45 games were canceled in the entire season last year, the burden of canceled games is huge for the KBO. Therefore, from August 5 to September 10, if a game is canceled on Saturday or Sunday, it will be played on Monday. However, the number of rainouts is bound to increase in the future.

Baseball at the Hangzhou Asian Games will take place from October 1-7. The team will convene a week before the first game to prepare for the competition. Add in the timeline for players to return home and rejoin their teams, and it’s likely that teams will be without their top players for more than two weeks.

Initially, the KBO had planned for the end of the Hangzhou Asian Games to coincide with the end of the regular season. While there will be variables depending on the number of rainouts in the future, the remaining schedule will be tighter than usual if the original schedule is to be met.

Players will also have to fill in for national team departures. LG, the leaders as of the 24th, will be without closer Ko Woo-seok and set-up man Jung Woo-young, as well as third baseman Moon Bo-kyung for two weeks. SSG will be without shortstop Park Sung-han and outfielder Choi Ji-hoon, pillars of their infield.

Doosan will also be without their domestic ace Kwak Bin. While the impact of missing starters is less severe when there is a gap between games, as in a normal back-to-back schedule, the situation is different when the schedule gets tighter. Lotte, who are also battling for a mid-table spot, may have similar concerns as Doosan, as they will be sending starters like Park Se-woong and Na Kyun-an to the national team. Lotte may be even more sensitive to their remaining schedule, as they have two holes in their starting rotation. 메이저사이트

In addition, KIA will have to deal with the rest of the schedule without starting pitcher Lee Yi-ri, bullpen arm Choi Ji-min, and all-weather beast Choi Won-jun, while KT (Kang Baek-ho, Park Young-hyun), Samsung (Won Tae-in, Kim Ji-chan), NC (Koo Chang-mo, Kim Joo-won, Kim Hyung-joon), and Kiwoom (Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-sung) are in a similar situation. Hanwha