Won with a come-from-behind home run in Game 2 and 3 of the KS in 2023 → KO in Game 1, 2, and 4 of the PO in 24. LG Wants to Win Back, Needs Home Run

Jan 05, 2025

The game between KT and LG in Game 3 of the Korean Series at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 10th, and LG Oh Ji-hwan hits a three-run home run with two outs and runners on the first and second bases in the top of the ninth inning. Suwon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2023.11.10/

In Game 2 of the Korean Series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 8th, LG Park Dong-won hits a come-from-behind two-run home run and cheers in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jamsil= Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2023.11.08/

The most memorable scene when the LG Twins won the 2023 Korean Series was Park Dong-won's come-from-behind two-run shot in the eighth inning in Game 2 and Oh Ji-hwan's come-from-behind three-run shot in the ninth inning in Game 3. At that time, with two home runs, LG turned the tide with two consecutive wins after losing the first game, and was able to create a moving scene of beating KT Wiz and lifting the trophy for the first time in 29 years by winning Game 5 following a big win in Game 4.

As seen in the Korean Series, a big shot plays a big role when needed. This means that the team needs to have some slugging power in order to win.

Last year, LG ranked third in the regular league. The biggest problem was the bullpen. Even if the starter did well, it was too much to stop Kim Jin-sung and Yoo Young-chan alone.

The batting lineup was not bad, but it was not as explosive as it was when it won in 2023. He ranked third after the KIA Tigers (0.301) and the Lotte Giants (0.285) with a team batting average of 283, and ranked second after KIA (858 points) with 808 points.

It was definitely good, but there was something to be desired. It's a long shot. The total number of home runs last year was 1438, an increase of 55.6% from 924 in 2023, but LG only increased 22 from 93 (6th) in 2023 to 115 last year. The overall home run ranking was only ninth.

Austin hit 32, Moon Bo-kyung hit 22, Park Dong-won hit 20, and Oh Ji-hwan hit 10, but the rest of the batters lacked slugging power.

The on-base percentage is second with 0.366, but the slugging percentage is eighth with 0.414, so the OPS fell to fourth place with 0.780.

The lineup without home runs collapsed disastrously in the playoffs against the Samsung Lions. In the first game in Daegu, a small stadium, he lost 4-10 after being hit with three home runs, and lost 5 home runs in the second game. LG also hit two home runs in the ninth inning, but the game has already tilted.

The fourth playoff game between Samsung and LG at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 19th. Kang Min-ho, with no outs, cheers after hitting a solo shot in the top of the eighth inning. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.10.19/

In the second round of the playoffs between LG and Samsung at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 15th, LG Ham Deok-joo gave up a solo home run to Samsung Diaz in the bottom of the 6th inning. Daegu = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.10.15/

A game between LG and Samsung at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 13th, and Samsung Koo Ja-wook hits a three-run home run with one out and runners on the first and third bases in the bottom of the third inning. Daegu = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.10.13/

In addition, Kang Min-ho's solo shot in the top of the eighth inning, when Game 4 was 0-0 in Jamsil, which was 1 win and 2 losses, lost 0-1 to Samsung and gave up the Korean Series berth to Samsung.

In the end, it can be said that LG's key to hitting next season is home runs. It is about how much he will increase his slugging percentage while maintaining his batting average to last year. It's not easy to hit a lot of home runs at Jamsil Stadium. However, it is not easy to understand that there are not many home runs in away games smaller than Jamsil.

LG hit 57 home runs in 82 games in Jamsil last year and 58 in 62 games in other stadiums. He recorded 0.7 per game in Jamsil and 0.94 per game in other stadiums.

One of the reasons why there are not many home runs is that there are many table-setters such as Hong Chang-ki, Moon Sung-joo, Park Hae-min and Shin Min-jae. So I'm counting on backup members such as Song Chan's Kim Bum-suk, Lee Young-bin and Moon Jung-bin. If they show their long-shot abilities at the opportunity to play, they can give the main players enough time to rest and win a win-win in which the main players can hit well in their physical comfort.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.