Will the professional baseball LG Twins continue their left-handed starter breakthrough? This time it is Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha).

LG will face the Hanwha Eagles on the 25th at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The starting pitcher for Hanwha is Ryu Hyun-jin. Hanwha's foreign pitchers, Ponce and Weiss, will start as the 1st and 2nd pitchers in the opening series, and Ryu Hyun-jin will start the season as the 3rd pitcher.

Ryu Hyun-jin is a representative "LG killer" pitcher. Ryu Hyun-jin's 2006 professional debut was against LG, where he achieved a victory with 7⅓ innings, 3 hits allowed, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts, and no earned runs. He has the best record against LG with 23 wins and 9 losses in 38 career games, and an earned run average of 2.33.

After returning from playing in the United States for 11 years last year, Ryu Hyun-jin recorded 1 win and 1 loss with an earned run average of 1.84 in 3 games against LG. In last year's regular season opener against LG, he struggled, pitching 3⅔ innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, and giving up 5 runs (2 earned), becoming the losing pitcher, but in the second half, he showed the form of an "LG nemesis." In August, he recorded a no-decision with 5 innings and no earned runs, and in September, he became the winning pitcher with 6 innings and 1 run allowed.

Ryu Hyun-jin recorded 10 wins and 8 losses with an earned run average of 3.87 in 28 games last year. In this year's spring training, he completed 1 game, pitching 4 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and giving up 2 runs. His game was canceled due to a cold wave, and he only pitched in 1 game.

LG has a specific jinx against left-handed pitchers. Last year, Jesus (KT), who played for Kiwoom, went 3-0 with an earned run average of "0" in 3 games against LG.

On the 22nd, LG faced Lotte's left-handed foreign pitcher Barnes in the opening game. The LG lineup exploded, knocking Barnes around with home runs from the first inning and recording 8 hits, 1 home run, and 7 runs scored by the 3rd inning.

Barnes started 1 game against LG last year, recording 6⅓ innings, 6 hits allowed, 2 home runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 3 earned runs in a quality start; however, he was early pulled from the game in this match. He was substituted before the 4th inning for the first time in 617 days since July 13, 2023, against the NC Dinos (1⅓ innings, 6 earned runs).

LG's batters had good hitting cycles in the opener. They hit 7 home runs and scored 22 runs in the two-game opening series against Lotte. In the opener on the 22nd, they recorded 15 hits, 2 home runs, and 12 runs scored, and on the 23rd against Lotte, they recorded 13 hits, 5 home runs, and 10 runs scored. Although it was only 2 games, it is notable that they launched 7 home runs at the largest Jamsil Stadium.

Except for Kim Hyun-soo (1 hit in 8 at bats), all the regular lineup batters recorded over a .300 batting average. In particular, the 4th hitter Moon Bo-kyung shone with 4 hits in 8 at bats, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, and 4 runs scored, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning for two consecutive days. Key batters Austin, Oh Ji-hwan, and Park Dong-won also recorded home runs.

Last year, against Ryu Hyun-jin, Park Dong-won went 3 for 6, Kim Hyun-soo went 3 for 7, Shin Min-jae went 2 for 4, and Hong Chang-ki went 2 for 7 with 2 walks. Moon Bo-kyung went 0 for 7, Austin went 1 for 7, Oh Ji-hwan went 1 for 5, Park Hae-min went 1 for 5, and Koo Bon-hyeok went 0 for 4.

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