Professional baseball LG Twins pitcher Song Seung-gi is enjoying a sweet All-Star break and starting the second half with renewed determination.
Song Seung-gi is the hit product of LG this season. He is considered a candidate for Rookie of the Year. After completing his military service at the end of last year, Song Seung-gi returned and made his starting debut this year, taking on the role of the fifth starter.
He recorded 8 wins and 5 losses with an earned run average of 3.39 over 17 games (93 innings) in the first half. Although his ranking in earned run average (17th) and wins (tied for 6th) dropped due to poor performance in the last three games of the first half, his results as the fifth starter exceeded expectations.
Manager Youm Kyoung-youb named Song Seung-gi as the biggest success of the first half, saying, "He played a role better than expected, and thanks to that, we were able to endure. Song Seung-gi filled in for the shortcomings of the foreign pitchers."
The LG players took a three-day break during the All-Star break. From the 14th, they resumed training at Jamsil Stadium. On the 15th at Jamsil Stadium, Song Seung-gi said, "I wasn't thinking about baseball at all during the All-Star break. I spent it relaxing without any thoughts."
Although he had good enough performance to participate in the All-Star Game, he was not selected as a manager's recommended player. Song Seung-gi said, "I originally wanted to take a break, so I think I rested well," noting that he had no regrets about missing the All-Star Game.
Song Seung-gi struggled in the last three games of the first half with 1 loss and an earned run average of 8.76 (12⅓ innings, 12 runs allowed). In mid-June, he had an earned run average of 2.30, ranking first among local pitchers, but it rose to 3.39.
Song Seung-gi said, "I seem to have gotten a bit tired without realizing it. I didn’t think I would feel this tired, but it was more than I expected. Fortunately, I was a bit worn out when there was not much time left in the first half, so it seems like the timing matched a bit."
Reflecting on the reasons for his poor performance at the end of the first half, Song Seung-gi said, "There were physical factors, and I think I felt a bit psychologically due to not performing well in several games. As the expectations rose, I felt like I was being chased by myself to meet them. So, I think I was a bit mentally overwhelmed."
Song Seung-gi has experience pitching a full season as a starter at Sangmu last year, but the number of games and innings pitched was low. He pitched in 20 games for 104⅔ innings.
Song Seung-gi said, "Last year at Sangmu, I pitched 104⅔ innings in the season, but now looking back, I’ve pitched 93 innings in the first half. I ended up pitching more than I expected. I’ve nearly pitched a full-time season's worth of innings already in the first half. It’s better than I thought, but the second half seems more important going forward."
Manager Youm Kyoung-youb has not set a specific number of innings for Song Seung-gi. Instead, he expected around 160 innings for a full-time season. Song Seung-gi said, "You mention the regulated innings, and that was my goal as well, so I think I'll need to go harder in every game in the second half. I feel that I need to strengthen my resolve going into it now."
As he enters his first full-time season, Song Seung-gi is facing the summer heat. He said, "My brother Joo-young always says that the priority is not to get hurt. He said it would be physically tough, but I didn’t really feel it in the early stages. I recently said, 'Now I understand what my brother was talking about.' I think I need to take a good break and focus more on rest."
He is paying attention to his physical management. Song Seung-gi said, "I’m trying to rest a bit more and eat a bit more. I’ve been losing weight lately, so my uniform has gotten a bit bigger," and added, "I haven’t had much of an appetite. I ate a lot during this break."
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