"Set-up Man, how effective is it that you brought to 5.2 billion...' Jang Hyun-sik is the starting point for the reconstruction declaration of Yum Liang's 'Winning bullpen'. "There are a lot of resources to raise next year"
Nov 14, 2024
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Manager Yeom took over as LG's manager in 2023 and focused on strengthening the bullpen from the off-season training, and as a result, he achieved the strongest bullpen of the batting team in quantity and quality, which became a foothold to overcome the weaknesses of the weak starters. In the second game of the Korean Series against KT Wiz, starter Choi Won-tae allowed four runs with only one out count, but seven must-win groups, starting with Lee Jung-yong, Jung Woo-young, Kim Jin-sung, Baek Seung-hyun, Yoo Young-chan, Ham Deok-ju, and Ko Woo-seok, blocked KT's batters without losing a point, and Park Dong-won's come-from-behind two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning gave a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind victory. The game became a turning point, and LG won games down to Games 3, 4, and 5, winning the title for the first time in 29 years.
But this year was different. The support of LG's bullpen disappeared due to closer Ko Woo-seok's entry into the U.S., Lee Jung-yong's enlistment in the military, and Ham Deok-joo's surgery. He decided to finish with Yoo Young-chan and tried to set up a new must-win group centered on veteran Kim Jin-sung, but it was not easy. There were many ups and downs, and in fact, only Yoo Young-chan and Kim Jin-sung had to play until the end of the season. The result was disastrous. Although he was eliminated from the playoffs, he failed to achieve his goal of advancing to the Korean Series for the second consecutive year and remained in third place.
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Coach Yeom is very happy with the unexpected gift. Coach Yeom said "When we had a meeting before the FA, I needed to strengthen the bullpen, but why don't we do it so that our prospects are not taken away?" I didn't want to put pressure on the club" And a few days later, Cha Myung-seok, the general manager, said, "Isn't it better to bring him as a good player to bring anyway?" and I said, "Of course, Jang Hyun-sik is good." And after that, things went well, so we could bring them."
By bringing Jang Hyun-sik, LG will be able to build a pillar of the must-win group with Yoo Young-chan and Kim Jin-sung. If the starter throws up to the 6th inning, Kim Jin-sung and Jang Hyun-sik blocked the 7th and 8th innings, and Yoo Young-chan came out in the 9th inning to finish the game. Like this year, there will be no need to worry about the 7th inning or Yoo Young-chan will come out from the 8th inning to throw multi-innings. As the must-win group has room, it can build the must-win group more solidly.
In particular, there will be more candidates for the must-win group next season. This year, there were many pitchers who escaped, but there were few pitchers added, so it was difficult to raise only those players in the end. Next year, we can grow by raising many candidates and using them.
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Coach Yeom said, `There are more resources to grow next year than this year. Last year (2023) also took and raised a lot of pitchers during spring camp, and gained good results. I'm going to take a lot of them this time and make a good winning team like last year"I can afford to go up just with Baek Seung-hyun and Park Myung-geun. If one of the young players comes up one by one and grows up with experience, he will be able to make a bullpen when he won the championship."
The expected effect of bringing Jang Hyun-sik is enormous. Manager Yeom said "The club worked hard to give us a gift, so we have to repay you with our performance."," he said, expressing his determination to regain the championship.
indyk@sportschosun.com
