Mixing the grip and throwing method gave birth to a new weapon.
Lim Chan-kyu (LG Twins) started the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League KT Wiz at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 27th and led his team to a 6-1 victory by pitching three hits, three strikeouts, and six strikeouts in six innings.안전놀이터
Thursday’s game was a showdown between Lim Chan-kyu and KT Wes Benjamin. Before the game, Benjamin showed strong performance against LG in this season, with one win and 18 ⅓ innings with seven strikeouts and an ERA of 1.47. He has earned the nickname “LG killer” by showing strong performance against LG since the last season.
However, thanks to KT’s defense team’s mistakes and LG’s batters’ performance, LG succeeded in defeating Benjamin. Lim Chan-kyu’s scoreless pitching also shone.
Lim Chan-kyu, who met reporters after the game, said, “I focused on KT’s batters, rather than being conscious of Benjamin. (Park) Dong-won signed a lot of sliders today. At the top of the first inning, I threw a two-pitch slider against Mel Rojas Jr., and said, “Let’s hold the slider by its key. I trust that I threw it,” and added, “I think the slider gave a good effect on the ball count and made a lot of mistakes.”
Lim threw 92 pitches through the sixth inning. He mixed four-seam fastballs (32 pitches), curves (24 pitches), sliders (18 pitches) and change-up (18 pitches). He increased the weight of sliders.
“I used to throw a cutter in the beginning, and I threw it against Kim Tae-yeon in the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on the 15th, but if I throw it hard, it becomes a slider type, and if I throw it hard, it goes like a cutter type. That’s why I mixed it up,” Lim said.
He continued, “The coach also told me to use a lot of sliders from the beginning of the season, but since the value of the pitch itself was negative, I thought we should use curves or changeups instead of sliders,” and added, “Of course, I tried a lot, but I think luck worked when I threw it at the game.” Until now, the ratio of sliders was low, so it might have worked a lot because it was the first game, but there will be a day when they will be hit. I think we can mix the ratios properly and use a lot of good pitches that day.”
Lim Chan-kyu completed his slider by referring to the breaking balls of LG’s two foreign pitchers, Detrick Ns and Eliaser Hernandez. “I threw it like the grip that Ns told me and Hernandez threw a sweeper,” he said. “Of course, my ball is not a sweeper, but I thought I learned one.”
Lim was able to cruise through the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on the second and third bases with one out, he faced Shim Woo-joon, and he walked before opting to win against Cho. He then connected with a double play to end the inning without losing a point.
Lim Chan-kyu said, “Dong Won was sitting on the batter’s box to skip Shim Woo-joon in 2B. At first, I wondered. I was the eighth batter from the beginning, so I thought it might lead to a lot of runs, but Dong Won thought,” and added, “When I asked Dong Won, he said he didn’t want to give a point. I was lucky in the match against Cho Dae-hyun and Shin Min-jae defended well, but as a result, Dong Won’s lead was so good.”
In the outfield, Lim Chan-gyu’s fans made Lim Chan-gyu’s number “1” with Lim Chan-gyu’s uniform and cheered for him. “I am so grateful. Seeing a uniform of someone like (Park) Yong-taek in the past, I thought, “I wish I had something like that. I should become such a player.” But now I hang a lot on the table