Shortstop abandonment Fireballer transformation, ERA 1.88 ‘power’…dream of becoming the second Ko Woo-suk from the second Oh Ji-hwan

LG Baek Seung-hyun, who gave up his promising shortstop and turned into a pitcher, has firmly established himself as a bullpen must-win group in his third year as a pitcher. He recorded his first save and first win since his debut this year, and is playing with a one-point ERA.

The match between SSG and LG was held at Jamsil Stadium on the 16th. LG’s Yoo Young-chan took the mound in the seventh inning with a 7-4 lead. However, Yoo Young-chan threw eight consecutive pitches, putting him on the verge of first and second base with no outs. Yoo Young-chan caught Jihoon Choi out with a fly ball to center field and was replaced by Baek Seung-hyun.

Baek Seung-hyun struck out slugger Choi Jung with three outs and runners on first and second base with one out. After inducing a swing and foul with a slider, he struck out with a high fastball in the third pitch. Eredia walked and got two outs and a full base, but struck out Choi Joo-hwan with a big slider to prevent the crisis. 토토사이트

LG added three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to run 10-4 and Choi Dong-hwan took the mound as a relief pitcher following Baek Seung-hyun in the eighth inning. Baek Seung-hyun recorded a hold with two strikeouts and one walk in 0.2 innings.

After the game, head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “There was a big crisis in the seventh inning, but Baek Seung-hyun overcame the crisis well and created a foothold for victory. “I think Baek Seung-hyun has also developed into a player who grows one step further through the process of overcoming the crisis,” he praised.

Baek Seung-hyun was selected as the bullpen’s new face candidate at the spring camp, and pitched in both games against KT in the opening series without losing a point. However, after scoring one scoreless inning against Kiwoom on April 6, he was on the injured list due to a shoulder injury.

Baek Seung-hyun, who returned to the first division in early June, made two outs and saved against Samsung on June 14. He took the mound in the top of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead and struck out Kang Min-ho and defended Kim Dong-yeop with a straight hit to shortstop. He dramatically recorded his first professional save in the crisis of reversal.

In mid-June, he was absent from the first-tier entry for about a month due to shoulder pain. Baek Seung-hyun, who returned to the first division at the end of July, is playing as a must-win group. In September, when Ham Deok-ju was absent, he has been a strong supporter with five scoreless innings in six games.

His performance this season is 1 win, 1 save, 6 holds, and a 1.88 ERA in 30 games (28⅔ innings). Among league pitchers who have pitched in more than 30 games, his ERA is the second lowest after LG Ham Deok-ju (ERA 1.62).

In addition, there is not a single point allowed to score from 10 successive runners. The succession runner’s scoring rate is 0%. It is the only record among league pitchers with more than 10 successors.

Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop, along with Ham Deok-ju, Yoo Young-chan and Park Myung-geun, praised the bullpen’s four new must-win groups, saying, “Without them, we could have grown the floor from the beginning of the season.”

Baek joined LG in the third round (30th overall) of the second round of the 2015 draft. A promising shortstop, he finished his military service early. After completing his mandatory military service as a social service worker, he returned to LG in May 2017. LG insiders predicted and nurtured Baek Seung-hyun as Oh Ji-hwan’s successor.

However, Oh Ji-hwan, who boasts the physical strength of the “Geumgang Bulbul,” needed time to persevere before taking a chance for the first division. He played nine games in 2017, five in 2018, and 14 in 2019.

Baek Seung-hyun, who played in the Australian professional baseball league in the 2020-2021 season as a member of Geelong Korea, played briefly as a pitcher and became a turning point in his baseball life. In January 2020, he took the mound and threw the ball, continuing to throw a fastball of over 150 km. He shot an unofficial 154km arrest at the time.

At first, I didn’t think of a pitcher. In the 2020 season, he played as a shortstop in the first and second divisions and recorded a batting average of 25 percent (7 hits in 28 at-bats) in 27 games in the first division. Then there was a change of heart in the middle of the season. He asked the club to switch from a promising shortstop to a pitcher. The club dissuaded him, but he took on a new challenge as a pitcher due to the strong will of the player.

Baek Seung-hyun, who learned basic skills from the beginning as a pitcher, played as a pitcher in the Futures League from the 2021 season. He made his first team debut as a pitcher against KIA in Gwangju on June 5, 2021. It was impressive. He recorded a fastball speed of 153 kilometers.

He pitched in 16 games (16⅔ innings) in the 2021 season with a 2.16 ERA in one hold, showing his potential as a pitcher. After the season, he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow, and last year, he was sluggish with one loss and one hold average of 10.80 in 12 games (10 innings). Baek Seung-hyun, who was impressed by head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop at this year’s spring camp, settled as a must-win group in his third year as a pitcher.