It was a two-game opening match that could not be evaluated favorably. First of all, there were too many mistakes. They conceded 11 points in the opening game and 9 goals in the second game, giving a total of 20 points in the two games. He wasn’t good at conceding either. I’m not pointing out pitcher replacement. Defensive mistakes in the process of conceding points are a problem. A team with a weak defense will never succeed.
Of course, it’s only 2 games. They struggled throughout the starting and middle positions, and Song Chan-eui and Hong Chang-ki seemed to be less accustomed to being first baseman and left fielder, respectively. There was also an incomprehensible base play mistake. However, it is not possible to conclude the results of the upcoming 142 games with only two games.토토사이트
LG took an eventful start to the 2023 season.
The first match was a complete loss. The batters allowed opposing starter Wes Benjamin to pitch perfect up to five times. While Benjamin defended the mound like a fortress, LG starter Casey Kelly allowed 6 runs. At the end of the 6th inning, Park Myeong-geun took the mound to make the bases full and tried to induce a double hit, but Park Myung-geun was hit at the right time by pinch hitter Kim Jun-tae. It was a moment of invigoration with additional KT in the game.
The interesting part comes next. The lineup was drastically revised and the second match was played. There is also a change in the opponent selection from left-handed Benjamin to right-handed So Joon So, but 7 out of 9 batting order have changed. Except for No. 1 Seo Geon-chang and No. 5 Oh Ji-hwan, there were changes in 7 positions. Moon Seong-joo, who played as a pinch-hitter the day before, took over at number 2, and Park Hae-min, who had been replaced by Moon Seong-joo, moved down to number 9. Park Dong-won, the 4th hitter in the opening game, was in the 6th.
The change hit. The changed LG batting line scored 9 points up to the 3rd inning against So-Jun Sohn. Moon Sung-joo went 4 at-bats, 3 hits and 1 walk, making a perfect performance in the 2nd batting order, and Kim Hyun-soo, who returned to the most familiar 3rd batting order, proved to be healthy with 3 hits and 3 RBIs. Austin, who had gone 3 at-bats the previous day with no hits and 1 walk, added 3 hits and 1 RBI in 5 at-bats in the 4th at-bat, as well as a stolen base.
Although they succeeded in suppressing the baseline, an error in the second half of the game brought the worst trend to themselves. In the bottom of the 8th inning, when the inning had to end with a 5-4-3 double play, Moon Bo-gyeong made a mistake by throwing to second base. Rookie Park Myeong-geun went down the mound for two days in a row with regret. Afterwards, Pil Seung-jo struggled against KT’s top lineup and allowed a tie.
In the top of the 11th inning, pinch hitter Lee Chun-woong’s squeeze bunt resulted in third base runner Song Chan-eui scoring the winning goal. In addition, Deok-joo Ham, who was responsible for the bottom of the 10th and 11th innings, also shone. However, looking back at Hong Chang-gi’s defense in the bottom of the 9th inning, where he made a left fielder’s fly into a left-handed hit, and how he got out by overrunning in a squeeze situation, it is hard to give a good score for the second game victory.
It just wasn’t a pretty match. Still, the use of entries was carried out as planned. LG put 27 players into the game, excluding Adam Plutko, the starter for the Gocheok Kiwoom match on the 4th, out of the 28 players who were named in the entry during the opening two games. In addition to Park Myeong-geun, Yoo Young-chan and Song Seung-gi also took the mound for the opening game. The second catcher, Kim Ki-yeon, was replaced in the opening two games. Lee Cheon-woong, who was the number one call-up in case of injury, entered the entry even though he did not play the first team camp following the departure of Son Ho-young and Lee Jae-won. And he made a decisive moment in the second match.
Director Yeom Kyung-yeop diligently emphasized the use of depth. Manager Yeom emphasized that even the key players should change during the camp if their batting pace drops. Oh Ji-hwan and Park Hae-min, who play the center of defense, can also take a break at any time when their batting order goes down or they are sometimes excluded from the lineup. At the same time, a clear role was assigned to backup players.
Prospects in the second group are also highly likely to be actively utilized. Director Cha Myung-seok said, “The previous coaches also accepted the request from the front desk and appointed a lot of promising players. However, Director Yeom is trying to appoint promising players more actively. If the previous coaches used only 50%, Director Yeom seems to want to use about twice as much.”
In addition, he made active base running his motto, but with 1 stolen base in the opening game and 5 stolen bases in the second game, he already has 6 stolen bases. Not everyone plays like the exhibition game, but apart from Seo Kun-chang, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Hae-min, Hong Chang-ki, and Shin Min-jae, who can raise double-digit stolen bases, Austin also succeeded in stealing bases.
Head coach Yeom greeted the opening and said, “Most of the things to test in the demonstration game were. However, it is a little regretful that he did not perform at least two operations. He has been training since camp, so he will show it during the season.”
And in the game following the opening game, a pinch hitter squeeze came out. It was similar to the appearance shown at Mokdong Stadium on June 21, 2015. Coach Yeom, who was Nexen’s commanding tower at the time, won the match against Mokdong LG with a bunt to finish in the bottom of the 9th inning. At bat, Park Dong-won bunt, and third base runner Yoo Jae-shin scored a walk-off. LG placed outfielder Park Yong-taek on first base and was flustered in the process of placing five players in the infield.
Regarding the situation at the time, Director Yeom said, “At that time, LG was not ready for the infield shift. On the other hand, our team prepared for several squeeze plays. The team that did not prepare and the team that prepared came together, and the natural result came out,” he recalled.
Upcoming 142 games. Based on the appointment of a pinch hitter or a substitute runner, another play that catches the eye can come out. The pitching and fielding staff will also undergo changes in the future. Prior to the pennant race, LG prepared and planned a lot.