Jang Hyun-sik, Kim Kang-ryul, Shim Chang-min, Choi Chae-heung filled with a weak amount of bullpen. How is the starting spot that left 7 billion FA?
Jan 05, 2025
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However, the fifth starter starts with a question mark. The LG Twins, who aimed to recapture the championship in 2025, focused on reinforcing the bullpen, which had been sluggish during the offseason.
LG was the most stable starting team among the 10 teams last year. Foreign starters such as Casey Kelly (Eliaser Hernandez in the second half) and Detrick Ness and domestic starters such as Lim Chan-kyu, Choi Won-tae and Son Joo-young played full-time. All six of them won 48 starts, and the replacement starters did not win a single game.
The starting ERA is 4.26, ranking second overall.
However, the bullpen ranked sixth overall with a 5.21 ERA. In fact, he was weak enough to say that he endured with two sets-up man Kim Jin-sung and closer Yoo Young-chan.
LG, tied to the salary cap, had to make a choice in the FA market. The bottom line was to strengthen the bullpen. Choi Won-tae, who won nine games, came out as an FA, but he approached Jang Hyun-sik, the FA of the KIA Tigers, not Choi Won-tae, and succeeded in recruiting him under the unconventional condition of guaranteeing the full amount of 5.2 billion won for four years amid competition.
However, the closing pitcher Yoo Young-chan was on alert due to a microfracture of his elbow. LG, which did not consider Jang Hyun-sik's additional recruitment last time, hurriedly negotiated with Kim Kang-ryul, a C-grade FA, to recruit him, and veteran sidearm Shim Chang-min, who was released from the NC Dinos, also decided to hold it after testing.
Choi eventually traded with Samsung for a four-year total of 7 billion won. He also named Choi Chae-heung, the first designated left-handed pitcher in 2018, as a Grade A compensation player. The bullpen succeeded in reinforcing quantitatively for now. There are many resources to add strength to the bullpen, including the existing bullpen Jung Woo-young, Baek Seung-hyun, Lee Woo-chan, Kim Yoo-young, Park Myung-geun, and rookie Kim Woo-young, Trendy Hyun, Park Si-won and Kim Jong-woon. Among them, if they can make a must-win group of five ￣ and six, it can be evaluated as a success for LG.
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The first three months or so are important. We have to hold out until Lee Jung-yong returns from Sangmu in mid-June. Lee Jung-yong was a bullpen pitcher, but he changed to a starter in the second half of 2023 and showed good performance. Regarding Lee Jung-yong, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yup said, "I will assign the necessary position to the team when I return." If the starter is unstable, he will put it as a starter, and if the bullpen is weak, he will put it in the bullpen.
Since there is an insurance called Lee Jung-yong, he can make all-out efforts in the fifth selection, thinking that he only needs to stop him for two ￣ and three months.
Currently, left-handed Song Seung-ki is the first starter in the fifth round. He achieved triple crown in the Futures League last year. Song Seung-ki, who graduated from Yatap High School and joined LG in the 87th place in the second round of the ninth round in 2021, took only seven first-team appearances in 2022 and one last year.
However, Song Seung-ki, who joined Sangmu afterwards, saw his potential as a starting pitcher by topping the Futures League last year. He became the best pitcher in the Futures League with 11 wins, 4 losses and a 2.41 121 strikeouts in 20 games. Song Seung-ki himself "He shot the maximum speed up to 148km, and the breaking ball improved by 3 ￣ and 4km"He said "I think he improved a lot in the game management part, and I think he showed good results by playing without avoiding the opponent."
In addition, Lee Ji-gang, who was a substitute starter in 2023, fireballer Woo Kang-hoon, who gave and brought Son Ho-young, and Lee Jong-joon, who was a starter in the second division, are considered candidates for selection. If Song Seung-ki stably establishes himself as a starter from the beginning like Son Joo-young last year, it will be a perfect situation for LG. You can only focus on rebuilding the bullpen without worrying about starting. Still, it's a relief that a reliable card named Lee Jung-yong is waiting.
What will be the outcome of LG's decision to spend Choi Won-tae without regret in the 2025 season.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
