On Monday, the opening day of the 2024 KBO League season, baseball fans gathered at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul where the LG Twins and the Hanwha Eagles clashed. Ryu Hyun-jin, who was selected as the starting pitcher of the Hanwha Eagles’ opening game, returned to the KBO League for the first time in 12 years. Attention was focused on the Korean Monster’s performance against the defending champion, who won the title for the first time in 29 years.유흥알바
Expectations were high for LG as well. It is because dealing with the best pitcher in Korea quickly added pressure to the team and would have a bigger advantage if the team wins. “Ryu Hyun-jin, but our hitters will be able to target him,” LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop also expressed confidence.
The showdown began with half-excited and half-nervous, but LG began by paying respect to the returning legend. Leadoff Park Hae-min took off his helmet and greeted him before the game took place in the bottom of the first inning. Ryu also showed a heartwarming scene in which he took off his hat and accepted greetings from his juniors.
“Players gave a lot of thought (about what to do) to come to the conclusion. Aren’t you a player who came back to shine on Korea? We all told each other to greet each other with respect,” Park said. “That’s why I came to greet you as the lead-off hitter, meaning, ‘Thank you for shining our country.'”
He was as serious about the game as he was about “respect.” As if he could not afford to let go of the spotlight on his home turf, he became more active and agile. He drew three walks against Ryu and six hits, giving five runs. Ryu even wore a steel plate early in three ⅔ innings with a bruise on his defeat. The most fatal mistake was made by Hanwha’s fielders, but LG’s bat was impressive enough.
Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop’s plan worked. “He is a pitcher with ball control that can fight left and right with batters. It is not easy to target both sides. The point is how well he targets one side,” the coach said. “The first priority is to be aggressive. I will fight without bunt in the beginning,” urging the coach to take a positive approach.
Players followed suit well. Shin Min-jae, who hit a timely two-run final in the bottom of the second inning, said, “I tried to hit it within a fast count. Left-handed hitters only had 2 percent change-ups, so I aimed for fastballs and curves. Among them, I focused on hitting fastballs first and resulting in good results.”
Park Hae-min, who had a timely hit in his third at-bat, also explained, “The active attack on the count led to a good result, thinking it would be disadvantageous if the count was concentrated.”
It was a result of a thorough analysis and the execution of the players who drew this as a result. It was the reason for the integrated victory last season and the basis for setting up a grand goal of building a dynasty. Again, LG’s journey has begun.