At a time like this, LG's first crisis is to meet Hanwha, the No. 1 winning percentage in April
At a time like this, LG's first crisis is to meet Hanwha, the No. 1 winning percentage in April
Blog Article
The first crisis has come for the leading LG Twins.
LG will hold three consecutive games against the Hanwha Eagles during the week at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon from May 29 to May 1. Hanwha is currently the most demanding opponent in the KBO League. With 14 wins and 8 losses this month, the team ranks first (0.636) in monthly win rate with the Lotte Giants. Hanwha boasts an overwhelming win rate of 13 wins and 3 losses (0.813) in its last 16 games since May 9. It is similar to how LG had won seven consecutive games by leading strong starters and batters early in the season. Hanwha, which was at the bottom (4 wins and 10 losses) as of May 8, rose to the third (17 wins and 13 losses).
LG is showing an unusual downward trend. Its prowess, which had been leading the pack in the early days of this season, has disappeared suddenly. In the latest seven games, the team has been sluggish with two wins and five losses. Following last week's first consecutive losses of the season (against the SSG Landers on April 20 and the NC Dinos on April 22), the team recorded an inferiority series (more than two losses among three consecutive games, one win and two losses against the NC Dinos on April 22). It was also lagging behind the "defending champion" KIA Tigers to one win and two losses in three consecutive games on the weekend.
If LG loses three consecutive inferior series in the three consecutive games against Hanwha this week, it cannot be guaranteed that it will lead the game. As of April 19, he led the second-place Hanwha by up to six games, but the gap with the second-place team (Samsung Lions) narrowed to three games.
This indicates that baseball has lost strength in starting pitchers. The ERA of starting pitchers soared to 3.38 (second place) from 1.50 (first place) through March. The absence of Elijah Hernandez, who was diagnosed with adductor muscle injury in his right leg for six weeks, is a sign of his absence. Son Ju-young, the second starting pitcher, also faltered with an ERA of 4.50 this month. 온라인바카라
The bullpen pitcher lineup, which had been the biggest concern before the season's opening, remains solid with an earned run average of 2.66 (ranking first). However, his team's batting average in the recent seven games has been sluggish with 0.201 (ranked eighth). Except for foreign hitter Austin Dean, none of them has achieved a batting average of .300 during the period.
Moon Bo-kyung and Kim Hyun-soo, who were swinging the bat at the beginning of the season, have also lost some sense of hitting. "It's about time that Hong Chang-ki (batting average of 0.225 during the season) and Shin Min-jae (batting average of 0.208) increased their batting performance, but they are not showing any signs of performance at all," LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop lamented. He replaced Hong with Park Hae-min as leadoff, but that was not effective. Oh Ji-hwan started only one game last week from the starting lineup due to back pain. The success rate of stolen bases, which was once close to 90 percent, dropped to 72.2 percent (26 successes and 10 failures). The team still has a different minimum number of errors (12), but its stability is lower than its solid performance in the early days of the season.
For LG, Song Seung-ki, Yonny Chirinos, and Son Ju-young will take the mound in succession in three consecutive games during the week against the Hanwha Eagles. In the previous game, Chirinos only pitched five innings (77 pitches) due to forearm muscle fatigue. "Chirinos seem to need management," manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said. Hanwha, which boasts strong starting baseball capabilities these days, is in the order of Ryan Weiss, Ryu Hyun-jin, and Um Sang-baek. As the team lost in three consecutive away games against the LG Twins on March 25-27, it is seeking revenge in the upcoming showdown.
According to the results of the nine consecutive games (against Hanwha-SSG-Doosan Bears) through May 7, LG is expected to face a critical juncture in its leadoff run. It could also have a significant impact on the league's ranking. Choi Chae-heung will take the mound as a substitute for Hernandez in the upcoming nine consecutive games, and Coen Win, a temporary substitute foreign player, will make his KBO league debut.