This season, the LG Twins had difficulties with both foreign pitchers shaking. They were Casey Kelly and Detrick N.C., who played as the best foreign pitchers in LG’s history. Kelly left in the end, and N.C.E.N. will take the starting mound in Game 4 where the team’s fate is determined.
LG will play the fourth game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO postseason playoff (PO, best-of-five) against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul at 2 p.m. on the 19th.
It is a match in which LG’s fate is at stake. LG lost both the first and second games away from Samsung. With one loss added, the team ended the fall baseball season with a 1-0 victory in the third game at its home turf, making it alive. With no one left behind, N.C.E.N.s took the heavy responsibility of starting. Denny Reyes, also a foreign pitcher, will start for Samsung.
He pitched in 30 games this season, and posted 13 wins, six losses and an ERA of 4.19. He tied for third in the most wins category. During 167 ⅔ innings, he had 169 hits (16 homers), 50 walks, 157 strikeouts, 84 runs (78 earned runs) and WHIP 1.31 hit rate was 0.263. He pitched 13 quality starts.
He pitched well against Samsung this year. He started two games against Samsung, and had one loss and an earned run average (ERA) of 3.00. During a total of 12 innings, he had eight hits (two homers), three walks, and four runs (four earned runs) with 12 strikeouts and four runs (seven earned runs) in just eight ⅔ innings. In two semi-playoff games, N.S. was shaken by 11 hits (two homers) and four walks, nine strikeouts and seven runs (seven earned runs) in eight ⅔ innings. He played in Game 1 on May 5 and Game 4 on May 9, but only managed to garner one loss.
However, the situation is different this time. N.S. got enough rest for nine days after pitching (72 pitches at the time). Against N.S., Kang Min-ho was strong at this year’s Samsung with two hits and one homerun from five times at bat. Kim Young-woong also hit one homerun. Kim Ji-chan also had one hit from three times at bat, and Kim Heon-gon had two hits from six times at bat. Lee Seong-gyu had one hit from four times at bat, and Lee Jae-hyun had one hit from five times at bat. On the other hand, Park Byung-ho, Ryu Ji-hyuk, and Jeon Byung-woo each had no hits from two times at bat, and Yoon Jeong-bin and Diaz had never faced each other yet.
Asked about the change in the lineup if the rain was not canceled after Game 4, Samsung coach Park Jin-man said, “Since the opponent is a left-hander (Nce), we would have played in the lineup that we envisioned,” adding, “Jeon Byung-woo would have played. Lee Sung-kyu was going to come into the starting lineup, and Yoon Jung-bin was going to wait behind.”
The best scenario for LG is that N.C.E.N.’s team will take the mound due to signs of agglomeration. LG could use a “one plus one” strategy, in which it increases the number of innings as long as possible while Son Joo-young is replaced. It is also the most ideal scenario that LG wants. Hernandez, who joined the team on behalf of foreign pitcher N.C. Kelly’s team, is displaying stellar pitching. Will N.C. be able to fulfill his duty by taking responsibility for his role as well. 안전놀이터
