Can the professional baseball LG Twins continue their dream of a "wire-to-wire" championship?
After starting with seven consecutive wins and charging ahead as the undeniable frontrunner, LG faced a sudden slump in mid-April due to a hitting downturn. They experienced a decline with a record of 2 wins and 8 losses in 10 games, and the gap with the second-place group has vanished.
Although LG has recently rebounded with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the last four games, the rise of Hanwha Eagles is formidable. Hanwha is on an eight-game winning streak and has risen to a tie for first place with LG as of the 5th.
On the 6th, LG defeated their Jamsil rivals Doosan 5-1 with ace Chi Linos on the mound. Hanwha also won against Samsung 3-1 on the 6th, maintaining their tie for first place. LG will play against Doosan in the final game of their three-game series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 7th, with Choi Chae-hung announced as the starting pitcher. Doosan's starting pitcher is the foreign player Jack Log. Choi Chae-hung needs to effectively contain the Doosan batting lineup and pave the way for a victory to maintain the top spot.
Choi Chae-hung will wear the LG uniform as a compensation player for Choi Won-tae, who transferred to Samsung on a maximum 7 billion won free-agent contract last December.
While enduring a nine-game series, an opportunity to start arose for Choi Chae-hung. Initially, he was scheduled to pitch as the starting pitcher against SSG at Jamsil on the 2nd. However, the LG-Hanwha game on the 1st was canceled due to rain, causing the plan to fall through. Son Ju-young, who was projected as the starting pitcher on the 1st, ended up pitching as the starter against Hanwha on the 2nd, sidelining Choi Chae-hung's starting opportunity.
However, a previously lost opportunity has returned. Son Ju-young experienced discomfort in his elbow after pitching against SSG on the 2nd. Although Son Ju-young might pitch against Doosan on the 7th after four days of rest, the decision is to avoid overexertion. While extra rest is given to Son Ju-young, Choi Chae-hung will take the mound as the starting pitcher.
This will be Choi Chae-hung's first appearance in the first team since transferring to LG. He had initially fallen behind in the competition for the fifth starting spot and started the season in the Futures League after wrapping up the exhibition games. In the Futures League, he posted a record of 1 win and 1 loss with an earned run average of 9.64 over three games. In his first two games, he struggled with 4 earned runs in 2⅓ innings and 5 earned runs in 2 innings, but he performed well in a game against Samsung's second team on the 25th of last month, pitching 5 innings and allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, and 1 earned run.
Choi Chae-hung, who was drafted first overall by Samsung in 2018, achieved a career-high in 2020 with an 11-win, 6-loss record and an earned run average of 3.68 over 26 games. However, after serving in the military at Sangmu from 2022 to 2023 and returning, he has struggled. After being discharged during the 2023 season, he recorded 1 win and 7 losses with an earned run average of 6.68 over 15 games. Last year, he played as a reliever, appearing in 14 games without a win or loss and posting an earned run average of 6.40 before transferring as a compensation player.
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