Will the professional baseball team LG Twins lift the championship trophy again after two years in 2023? After only losing once in 10 games since the season began, manager Yeom Kyung-yeop painted a brighter future for LG this season.

Prior to the second matchup of the season against the KIA Tigers on the 6th at Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium, LG Twins are enjoying a solo lead. With a remarkable record of 9 wins and 1 loss out of 10 games, resulting in a winning percentage of .900, they are 2.5 games ahead of second-place SSG. After an impressive 7-game winning streak to start the season, LG faced their first defeat against the Suwon KT Wiz on the 2nd, but they secured consecutive victories against KT on the 3rd and KIA on the 4th without any losing streak.

As expected from a successful team, all the team’s offensive and defensive metrics rank high. The team leads in OPS (.862), slugging percentage (.468), and on-base percentage (.394); ranks second in batting average (.294); and third in home runs (13). They also lead in earned run average (2.53), while their starting pitchers’ ERA is second (2.88), and the bullpen is second (1.82), showing balanced performance on both ends. LG also has the most quality starts plus (4) among teams.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop noted, “Baseball is not easy. A manager prepares 100% to achieve 30-40%. It can be viewed like a batting average.” He continued, “The strong performance of the early starting rotation has been huge. The lineup has not exploded but has hit when it needed to. The improvement in slugging power has played a significant role in our leading run.”

The grueling training conducted during last year’s finishing camp is also one of the reasons behind their first-place run. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop reflected, “In last year’s finishing camp, I specifically selected the players needed and made them train extremely hard. Hitters had to hit 1,000 times a day. They must have been exhausted after spending 7 hours only hitting. They prepared that well. For pitchers, we analyzed why there were so many walks and implemented training to reduce them. They probably threw more than three times as much.”

He also stated, “Now that I’ve been with the team for three years, the players understand me better. They know exactly what kind of person I am. Trust has built up. The direction we need to go and the team culture have been established.” He added, “The best part is the culture of the veterans. Veterans are absolutely crucial for development.”

Having started the early season with a .500 winning percentage and a +9 run differential over 10 games, LG is dreaming of an even stronger second half. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “Our team will likely be much stronger in the second half than it is now. As a manager, I have hope that although we may face difficulties this year, our baseball won't easily collapse.”

Meanwhile, LG has set its starting lineup against KIA’s starting pitcher Adam Oller, including Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Shin Min-jae (second baseman), Austin Dean (first baseman), Moon Bo-kyung (designated hitter), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Kim Hyun-soo (left fielder), Park Dong-won (catcher), Koo Bon-hyuk (third baseman), and Park Hae-min (center fielder). The starting pitcher is ace Yony Chirinos.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop explained, “Moon Bo-kyung is out as a designated hitter because his shoulder is a bit sore, and Koo Bon-hyuk will play third base while Kim Hyun-soo plays left field. Kim Hyun-soo's batting form is not bad.”

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