“You have to throw a lot.”
LG Twins starting agents, foreign pitchers Casey Kelly and Choi Won-tae, are taking a break to prepare for the Korean Series. However, closing pitcher Go Woo-seok and setup man Jeong Woo-young pitch until the end of the season.
LG excluded Choi Won-tae and Kelly from the first-team entry ahead of the final match of the season against the KIA Tigers in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Jamsil Stadium on the 6th.
Director Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “We are preparing for the Korean Series. “I will take a good rest now and then pick up my pace when the postseason starts,” he explained. He continued, “The three starters have been decided. We are considering Lim Chan-gyu and Choi Won-tae as the second starters. “We are considering Kim Yun-sik and Lee Jeong-yong as the 4th starter,” he said, talking about his plans for managing the starting lineup.
Give the selectors a break. Director Yeom also said, “I plan to leave the rest of the fielders up to the individual players. Except for the players who want to rest, everyone plans to participate as normal. I told Kim Jin-seong to rest, and he said he would throw at least once every two days. “I try to give bullpen pitchers at least one day of rest if they pitch for a day,” he said.
Jung Woo-young and Go Woo-seok, who are participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games, are excluded. Coach Yeom said, “However, we plan to have Jung Woo-young and Ko Woo-seok, who are on the Asian Games national team, join the team immediately after returning to Korea and have them throw the ball without stopping until the end. “Both pitchers need to throw a lot,” he said.
The two players must not lose their senses compared to the Korean Series. In addition, Jung Yoo-young has not pitched since the KIA game on the 10th of last month. Go Woo-seok has not pitched since the NC game on the 22nd of last month. The league gap is quite long, starting with the Gocheok Dome training period in preparation for the Asian Games.
Of course, he took the mound in the Hangzhou tournament스포츠토토, but compared to the league schedule, his game sense is bound to be poor. Because LG goes directly to the Korean Series, they have to wait for the wild card game, semi-playoffs, and playoffs to end.
As Coach Yeom said, the pitching condition must be continuously checked in the remaining games. However, that doesn’t mean there are many games left.
LG’s regular season ends with just six more games. It continues with an away game against Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on the 7th and a home game against Lotte Giants on the 9th. The Korean national team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, will play the final against Taiwan on the afternoon of the 7th and return to Korea via Incheon International Airport on the 8th.
Even if Jung Woo-young and Ko Woo-seok join right away and start against Lotte, there will only be 5 games.
They will play one more game against Lotte on the 10th and then travel to Changwon on the 13th for the final match of the season against NC Dinos. The regular season schedule ends with the remaining two games against the Doosan Bears on the 14th and 15th.
In 57 games this year, Jung Woo-young has 11 holds, 5 wins, 5 losses, and an average ERA of 4.74. Closer Ko Woo-seok has 15 saves, 3 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 3.68 in 44 games.
Among LG’s main bullpen pitchers, Jung Woo-young and Ko Woo-seok did not throw much this year. Both players have yet to reach 50 innings. This is why Coach Yeom said that the two players need more appearances.