New faces of LG this season, such as Austin Dean (33) and Park Dong-won (33), are playing a decisive role in the team’s upward trend. In addition, Kim Min-seong and Ham Deok-joo, who did not find themselves until last season, are adding strength with a new look.
The most welcome news for LG this season 메이저놀이터 is the performance of Austin, a new foreign batter. LG struggled with the sluggishness of foreign hitters every season. Expecting a steady performance was not reluctant, and there were not many players who played an active part. In fact, for the past two years, fall baseball has been played without foreign hitters. In the past, Roberto Petagini (2008-09) and Luis Jimenez (2015-17) are still mentioned. However, as of the 20th, Austin is showing not only batting average (4th) and OPS (slugging percentage + on-base percentage, 7th), but also clear decisiveness in chances (4th in RBI).
He is getting passing marks on defense as well as hitting. He was originally classified as an outfielder, but recently he often plays first base. This is because Lee Jae-won, who was a strong first baseman, was injured, but LG coaches evaluate Austin’s first base defense as stable. Austin also said, “I know that foreign hitters on past teams struggled. I will break that curse,” he says with confidence.
Park Dong-won, a free agent transfer student, neatly filled the catcher gap that he was worried about. His batting average is not high, but he is breathing life into the batting line with one long hit such as 4 home runs (1st place) and OPS (18th place). The ‘pitcher lead’, which is the catcher’s original job, is also stable. With Park Dong-won’s lead, the LG mound is running at the top of the league in ERA (2nd place) and on-base percentage per inning (WHIP, 3rd place).
At the beginning of this season, LG is showing off a hot team offense. It is leading the league in all areas of offense, including team batting average and OPS, and the new family has a significant share.
It is not a ‘new face’, but it is impossible to discuss LG’s recent rise without mentioning Kim Min-seong and Ham Deok-ju, who are cruising toward ‘personal best season’. This is because both players are armed with remarkable skills compared to last season and are showing off a completely new look.
In fact, the LG infield was hit by lightning on the 7th. Shortstop Oh Ji-hwan complained of side pain and was placed on the injured list from the 8th. Backup shortstop Son Ho-young was also unable to make the opening entry due to an injury.
At this time, 17-year veteran infielder Kim Min-seong stepped forward. In the meantime, I have briefly served as a shortstop during Lotte and Nexen days, but it has been six years since I have been playing as a third baseman throughout my career. But he did too well. After Oh Ji-hwan’s injury, he continued to play as a starting shortstop and showed off his watertight defense skills, playing a decisive role in LG’s rise.
In terms of batting average, he wielded a batting average of 0.350 (14 hits in 40 at-bats), recording his personal best season batting average. In the game against NC on the 20th, Hyun-soo Kim filled the gap in the third batting order. Kim Hyun-soo complained of back discomfort right before the game and was dropped from the entry, and Kim Min-seong was put in as the third batter and played an active role with 2 hits and 1 RBI in 4 at-bats. Kim Min-seong’s third appearance is also about 2 years and 10 months after June 2020.
Ham Deok-ju also struggled for two consecutive seasons after moving to LG in 2021, but this season, he regains his old appearance little by little and plays a key role in the bullpen. In particular, on the 20th, when they were fighting for 1st and 2nd place in the league, they climbed to the mound in the 7th inning of the NC game, striking out Park Min-woo, who had a good hitting feel, and caught the follow-up hitter Kim Seong-wook with a shortstop line drive, playing a decisive role in the victory.