Wes Benjamin leads the charge as KT look to mount a comeback

Wes Benjamin [KT WIZ]

KT Wiz starter Wes Benjamin may not speak much Korean, but there’s one expression he’s already mastered: “Kaja,” the Korean equivalent of “let’s go” shouted to psyche up the team during a game.

The Wiz are going to need all the kaja rallying cries they can get. Currently languishing in seventh place on the KBO table, the 2021 Korean Series champions have a long way to go if they want to get back into the running in the second half of the season.

KT’s decline in the first half of the season came after a series of injuries disrupted the team’s performance, but things are slowly on the mend. The players are gradually recovering, and those that have been slumping are making a comeback.

Looking at the months of June and July alone, the Wiz have performed best with 20 wins, 12 losses and a .625 winning percentage as of press time Thursday. Although the Suwon, Gyeonggi side is currently in seventh place, there are only 2.5 games separating them from the joint fourth-place NC Dinos and Lotte Giants.

At the heart of that comeback is sophomore starter Benjamin.

Like the rest of the squad, Benjamin has shown consistent improvement over the last few months. His ERA was 5.60 in April, but rose to 4.26 in May and 3.62 in June. With two games under his belt so far in July, he’s on two wins and a 2.08 ERA.

Pitching against KBO ace An Woo-jin of the Kiwoom Heroes on July 11, Benjamin stayed on the mound for seven and two thirds innings, giving up six hits, one walk and two earned runs and striking out 11. Both the number of innings pitched and number of strikeouts were the most since he joined the KBO last year.

Benjamin was recruited by the Wiz mid-way through the 2022 KBO season, recording five wins, four losses and a very respectable 2.70 ERA through the second half of the season. He proved to be a reliable choice both as a starter and a relief pitcher in the second half of the season, with the Wiz ultimately finishing in fourth place.

The Wiz had high hopes for Benjamin this season, putting him at the top of the rotation to take opening day honors. He was slow off the mark, however, taking two wins and two losses in April and arriving at the All Star break with a 4.16 ERA.

But Benjamin is confident he’s already worked out what the problem was.

Speaking to the JoongAng Ilbo, Benjamin said that he lowered his angle of release during spring training to increase his pitching speed, but he found that it made his pitches more hittable in the early games of the season. After working with the Wiz analytics team, he decided to revert to his original pitching angle.

Off the mound, Benjamin is known among Korean baseball fans for the respect he has shown to Korean culture during his time in the KBO.

When he arrived at KT last season, he immediately caught the eye of fans across the league when he referred to himself as “Hyeon-jong’s hyung,” referring to Kia Tigers starter Yang Hyeon-jong and the Korean word hyung, meaning older brother. Benjamin had learned the word, used by a male to refer to an older male friend, while training with Yang when they both played for the Kia Tigers.

Benjamin has also made a concerted effort to improve his Korean-language skills. As well as his frequent use of kaja, Benjamin also greets team officials in Korean and is able to hold conversations with his teammates using a mixture of Korean and English.

When asked by the JoongAng Ilbo to say something in Korean during a recent interview, Benjamin admitted that he didn’t have anything prepared, but there is one thing he’s always ready to say: “Kaja!”

BY KIM HYO-KYUNG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]