LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop’s first regular league win. It may have been natural since he took on the title candidate and made him win, but it was a work created after overcoming a crisis.
Coach Yeom himself said that this was one of the toughest seasons in his career. The crisis he revealed was from the end of April to the end of July. Both had to do with selection.
Coach Yeom started with a domestic starting lineup of Kim Yun-sik, Lee Min-ho, and Kang Hyo-jong, with Casey Kelly and Adam Plutko ranked first and second with the most wins.
However, Kim Yun-sik’s speed did not increase, perhaps due to the aftermath of the WBC, and his pitching continued to be erratic, and Lee Min-ho was injured after one game. Kang Hyo-jong also fell short of expectations. Coach Yeom said, “At the end of April and the beginning of May, it was reported that all three starters had failed. A corner of my heart was anxious. I had a sense of crisis that if I couldn’t hold on here, I might end up playing in 4th or 5th place.”
It was the players who gave him confidence. Coach Yeom said, “Even if the players were losing in the dugout, they kept fighting and said, ‘It’s one chance’ and ‘We can turn it around.’ They moved on their own without me saying anything.” He continued, “In the end, baseball is played by the players, isn’t it? The players are all together. “The players changed my anxiety into confidence. They gave me strength during difficult times.”
The players’ fighting returned to the top in May. LG recorded 16 wins, 1 draw, and 6 losses in May. We were able to finish in first place in May. Coach Yeom said, “As the batting line improved, we created a win-loss margin of plus 10 in May. That gave the players and me some leeway. Even if a small crisis came later, we were able to endure because we had something to earn.”
Lim Chan-gyu’s performance could not be left out in the difficult starting lineup. Lim Chan-gyu started as a long relief player at the beginning of the season, but due to Lee Min-ho’s injury, he was brought in as a substitute starter and continued to pitch well, becoming an ace. In particular, in May, he became the winning pitcher in all four games and led the team along with Plutko with an ERA of 1.13.
Coach Yeom said that at the time, the management of the game was focused on Plutco and Lim Chan-gyu. He went so far as to say, “I risked my life on the match between Lim Chan-gyu and Flutko.” Coach Yeom said, “We were able to win the match between Lim Chan-gyu and Plutko by allowing the sure-win team to play. In the remaining three games, we had a batting battle and thought we only had to win once out of three. Then, we would win three out of five games. “It was done,” he said. Coach Yeom said, “Due to our team’s circumstances, we had no choice but to operate that way, and our bullpen had limitations as many pitchers were in the first team for the first time, making it difficult to make consecutive pitches. So, although our team did not have a long winning streak, we had many winning series.”
The second crisis that came to Director Yeom was at the end of July. Plutko was unable to throw. Plutko had an incredible pitching record of 11 wins and 1 loss in the first half, but was unable to pitch for a while in the second half due to a cold and COVID-19, and his last appearance against NC on August 26 was out for the season due to a bruised left pelvic bone.먹튀검증
Coach Yeom said, “It was important whether we could maintain first place when Plutko was sick, but then Choi Won-tae came and filled Plutko’s position.” He added, “If Plutko is missing, it will inevitably have a psychological impact not only on the players but also on the fans.” . But Won-tae came and the starting position was filled. Lee Jeong-yong was revived as a starting player, and Kim Yun-sik took over the position, so I thought we could maintain first place even without Plutko.”
Coach Yeom, who had longed for a championship while coaching, said that as August passed, he was confident of winning the regular season and imagined the moment of winning. “I imagined being with the fans at Jamsil Stadium. I thought I would cry a lot,” said Coach Yeom. “But when the win was confirmed on the car coming down to Busan, I didn’t shed a single tear. I was happy, but surprisingly, I was calm.” He talked about the winning moment that was different. He said, “I think it will feel a little more real if we receive the regular league championship trophy in the home game on the 6th or in the final home game.”
