Last year's semi-PO, five scoreless games and two innings of 3K scoreless to KT, which met El Dong-won again (Okinawa Field)

Mar 02, 2025

LG Twins Elijah Hernandez is starting and spraying the ball in a practice game against KT Wiz on the 2nd. Photo courtesy = LG Twins

LG Twins Elijah Hernandez is celebrating after starting the inning in a practice game against KT Wiz on the 2nd. Photo courtesy = LG Twins

LG Twins Elijah Hernandez is starting and spraying the ball in a practice game against KT Wiz on the 2nd. Photo courtesy = LG Twins

[Okinawa (Japan) = Reporter Kwon In-ha of Sports Chosun]El Dongwon's ball power remained.

LG Twins' Eliaser Hernandez struck out three powerful pitching in his first practice game.

Hernandez started in a practice game against KT Wiz at Kinosa Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on the 2nd and recorded one hit, three strikeouts and no runs in two innings.

Hernandez has replaced Casey Kelly last year. It was expected that he would lead LG's rebound in the second half as a pitcher with good ball control by spraying various pitches with good ball control.

It was good at the beginning of the game as a starter, but there was a weakness of increasing the hit rate after the batting order turned once.

However, in the postseason, he earned the nickname 'El Dong-won' and became LG's guardian deity. Hernandez, who changed his position to a bullpen pitcher rather than a starter due to his weak bullpen, showed his fighting spirit to take the mound in the foreground until Game 5 in the semi-playoff against KT Wiz. He pitched two saves and one hold in five games and a perfect 0.00 ERA to put LG in the playoffs.

He also renewed his contract for a total of $1.3 million, and will play in LG uniforms in the 2025 season.

LG Twins Elijah Hernandez is entering the dugout amid encouragement from his teammates after starting and finishing the inning in a practice game against KT Wiz on the 2nd. Photo courtesy = LG Twins

LG Twins Elijah Hernandez is starting and spraying the ball in a practice game against KT Wiz on the 2nd. Photo courtesy = LG Twins

Hernandez, who had no actual appearance in Arizona's first camp, was in good condition in his first appearance in Okinawa, Japan.

Hernandez, who caught the leadoff Kang Baek-ho with a fly to center field in the top of the first inning, allowed Rojas to double on the right field line. However, he caught Heo Kyung-min with a ground ball in front of the third baseman and struck out Jang Sung-woo with a high fastball to pass the top of the first inning.

The start of the second inning was more stable. After dealing with the first No. 5 Moon Sang-chul with a fly to center field, he struck out No. 6 Hwang Jae-gyun with a breaking ball and struck out No. 7 Jang Jin-hyuk with a high fastball.

Hernandez, who sprayed 28 balls in two innings, recorded a maximum of 150km of fastballs and an average of 148km, and tested various pitches, including cutters, sweepers, curves, and changeups.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.