He was out of injury with one-two punch in Korea โ 8 bullpen days โ 13 wins and 12 losses. Is this the power of the winning team?
Jul 01, 2024
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Until May, he was in second place with a 2.5 game gap with the first-place KIA Tigers, but after enduring June, he came in second with a 1.5 game gap.
In early June, the atmosphere at LG was so good. Casey Kelly and Detrick N.S., who were sluggish in May, began to rebound after Yeom Kyung-yeop's replacement remarks and Cha Myung-seok left for the U.S. to see the candidates. With domestic starters such as Lim Chan-kyu, Choi Won-tae, and Son Joo-young solidly playing well, LG's strong baseball, which won last year, revived the batting lineup. After six straight wins at the end of May, one loss, and three straight wins.
But on June 3, bad news broke out. Lim Chan-kyu, who was supposed to start against Kiwoom in Jamsil on the 4th, was excluded from the first-team entry due to back pain. In a hurry, Lee Mi-eum started as a starter. The result collapsed in the beginning, losing 3-11. After that, he won four consecutive games, but Lee Woo-chan was replaced by Suwon KT on the 9th, the turn of Lim Chan-kyu's appearance, but lost 2-11.
On the 10th, Choi Won-tae was out due to a right side injury. All of a sudden, all the domestic one-two punches are out. Kim Yoo-young had to play in the match against Samsung in Daegu on the 11th, and the result was a 4-6 defeat. Since then, he has lost two games in a row and won four consecutive games. On the 14th, when Ence took the mound, he escaped consecutive losses by winning the game against Lotte in Jamsil.
However, on the 15th, Lim Chan-kyu's turn, Kim Yoo-young took the mound and lost 8-9 in the seesaw game. On the 16th, the day of Choi Won-tae's appearance, Lee Sang-young came up and made a reversal to win 9-8. He went 2-4 in three bullpen days in a week.
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The batting line was also difficult.
The main shortstop Oh Ji-hwan was out on May 30 due to an injury. He said he could come in about 10 days due to a sprained wrist, but it got longer than expected, and then he started training and was unable to return in the first half due to a hamstring injury. Koo Bon-hyuk, who was the backup of all infield positions, played shortstop and filled the defensive gap well, but his physical strength fell due to his continued appearance and his good hitting in the beginning went downhill.
On top of that, Moon Sung-joo, who was ranked first and second in on-base percentage with Hong Chang-ki, fell out due to a hamstring injury, weakening the lineup.
Despite continuous injury factors, LG held out and held out. Unfortunately, as there were more games to lose, it seemed that the winning team was exhausted like last year, but it also showed that the winning DNA was still alive by making a drama-like come-from-behind victory.
On the 30th, the Changwon NC match LG was blocked by the opponent's starter Lee Jae-hak and tied the game 1-1 before hitting the opponent's must-win group in the top of the seventh inning and scoring eight points. He allowed NC to chase due to the bullpen's turmoil, but Yoo Young-chan's five-out save won 9-6, allowing him to finish June in second place.
While domestic one-two punches played only one game each in June, foreign one-two punches led the starting team well this time. Kelly pitched in five games with a 2-1 record with a 2.91 ERA, and Ence also had three wins, no losses and a 3.10 ERA in five games. Son Joo-young, the fifth starter, also held out well with one win, two losses and a 4.21 ERA in four games.
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Austin was the fourth hitter in the lineup. He hit .38 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. Moon Bo-kyung also showed a steady performance with a batting average of .360, six home runs and 15 RBIs, and Hong Chang-ki also had a batting average of .32 and one home run and 12 RBIs. Park Dong-won also showed good performance in the center batting line with a batting average of 299, five homers and 19 RBIs.
There were a lot of injuries, and the bullpen is still falling in quantity and quality compared to last year. Nevertheless, he is only 1.5 games apart from No. 1 KIA. It can be said that it is the first half of the year that has endured well. In the remaining three Gocheok games against Kiwoom, the last series of the first half of the year, Kelly, Ens, and Lim Chan-kyu are about to end.
indyk@sportschosun.com
