(Yonhap Interview) 2 years after breaking fans' hearts, Bears ace Benjamin hopes to make them happy this fall

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- On Oct. 3, 2024, Wes Benjamin, then pitching for the KT Wiz, broke the hearts of many Doosan Bears fans.

The American left-hander tossed seven shutout innings as the Wiz beat the Bears 1-0 in the second wild card contest in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. Following a 4-0 win from the previous day, that second victory made the Wiz the first No. 5 seed to eliminate a No. 4 seed in the wild card round, which was introduced in 2015.

Two years later, Benjamin is now an ace for the Bears, looking to author another upset. They will be the fifth seed in this year's wild card round against the fourth-ranked LG Twins, with their battle scheduled for Wednesday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

In the wild card series, the lower-seeded team must win two straight games on the road to advance, whereas the higher-seeded club only needs a tie or a win, and gets two cracks at home to accomplish that feat. This partly explains why there has been just one upset so far.

Having been a part of that first underdog victory two years ago, Benjamin said he believes it can be done again by this year's Bears.

He added he owes it to Bears fans to put them on the right side of the equation this time.

"I have heard a lot from the fans. I know they were not so happy with me then, but I am hoping to get the chance to make them happy this time," Benjamin told Yonhap News Agency at Jamsil on Monday, before the Bears' final regular-season game against the Lotte Giants. "Hopefully, we will keep our fingers crossed. Everyone here is doing very well. We are hitting at the right time. Our pitchers have been amazing all year, so I am hoping for good things coming forward."

Benjamin was a key part of that "amazing" pitching staff this season. The Bears led the KBO with a 3.86 ERA, and they were the only club to post a sub-4.00 ERA. The Bears' starting rotation also posted the league's best ERA at 3.79. Benjamin did his part by pitching to a 2.31 ERA over 132 2/3 innings in 24 starts.

Benjamin played for the Wiz from 2022 to 2024. After spending the 2025 season in the U.S., Benjamin returned to the KBO by joining the Bears in April this year as a short-term injury replacement for Chris Flexen, who was sidelined after only two starts due to a shoulder injury. And with Flexen not making progress and Benjamin pitching well, the Bears released Flexen and handed Benjamin a full contract on July 2.

Benjamin had a 2.66 ERA at that point. Over his next 11 starts -- he missed about a month starting in mid-August due to some shoulder issues -- Benjamin posted an even better 1.85 ERA.

Right-hander Gwak Been will start Wednesday's game. He led the KBO this year with a 2.24 ERA and 197 strikeouts, and is the clear-cut No. 1 starter for the Bears.

Should the Bears force another wild card game, then they will have a choice between Benjamin and Choi Min-seok, a breakout star this year who finished third overall with a 3.20 ERA.

Choi, however, was roughed up for 11 runs on 18 hits in 7 2/3 innings across his final two regular-season starts this month, raising concerns that the slender 20-year-old had run out of gas. Choi had a 5.74 ERA in three regular-season starts against the Twins, his worst mark against any opponent this year.

Benjamin had a much stronger finish to his regular season, as he won his final four starts while allowing only four runs in 22 innings and striking out 26.

Benjamin had a pedestrian 4.26 ERA in three meetings against the Twins this year, but he had historically been much better against them -- putting up a 1.93 ERA in 2024 and a 0.84 ERA in 2023.

"I know we are going to have Gwak Been start Game 1. That is all that matters right now," Benjamin said when asked about the possibility that he will get the ball for Game 2. "And we are going to try and take it one game at a time, and see what we have to do to."

The Bears won only four out of 16 regular-season meetings versus the Twins this year, with one tie thrown in, but Benjamin recalled how the Wiz in 2024 played with extra motivation to make history and voiced confidence the Bears can do the same.

"You go into a game like that, and everyone recalls the statistics of every team and like, 'Oh, the fifth-place never has a chance in all these years that we have had this,'" Benjamin said. "So it gives you kind of a chip on your shoulder to want to beat those odds. So I don't see why you cannot just have a team win two games in a row. I totally get that we are at a disadvantage, but at the same time, we have great pitchers, and our hitters are hitting on time when we need them to be. And I think it is anyone's game."

Benjamin said when he first signed his temporary deal with the Bears, he never thought he would have a chance to pitch for them in the postseason. And he said not getting too ahead of himself is precisely what made him so successful this year.

"I was not looking at the bigger picture. I was keeping everything one day at a time and making sure that my focus was each day I was here," he said. "And the next day, I was so grateful and thankful for the time that I was able to be here and not knowing how long it would last me. So I enjoyed every second of it and being able to do the best I could every single day allowed me to, I think, perform as well as I did this season.

"I am extremely grateful for how Doosan treated me coming into the season," he added. "They made the transition very smooth and easy for me. My teammates are all extremely great people, which made things super simple for me to try to be a part of everything, and they treated me like family. So very grateful for the opportunity they gave me."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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