The LG Twins and the Lotte Giants of professional baseball will have their second matchup of the season at Jamsil Stadium on the 15th.
In the game on the 14th the day before, in a tight pitchers' duel, LG beat Lotte 2-1 thanks to Austin's go-ahead solo home run that came in the eighth inning. LG rose to sole first place with eight straight wins. Lotte is ninth with a 5-9 record.
In the matchup on the 15th, LG recorded nine consecutive wins in a single season in 2016. They will attempt to reach nine straight wins again for the first time in 10 years.
LG will start Lachlan Wells, whom they signed under the Asia quota, as their starting pitcher. Wells has appeared in two games this season, recording 1 win and a 2.70 earned run average. When Wells played for Kiwoom last year, he made one appearance against Lotte, pitching six innings and allowing three runs (two earned).
Lotte's starting pitcher is Kim Jin-wook. He has appeared in two games this season, recording 1 win and a 2.84 earned run average. On the 8th against KT in Busan he pitched eight innings and allowed one run, delivering the best game of his life. Kim Jin-wook has been strong against LG. His career numbers against LG are 12 games, 28 1/3 innings, 9 runs (8 earned), 2 wins, no losses, and a 2.54 earned run average.
The matchup between LG's lineup riding an eight-game winning streak and Lotte starter Kim Jin-wook is the viewing point. Because Kim Jin-wook is a left-handed pitcher, he is actually weaker against left-handed hitters. He has shown reverse-split results.
Last year Kim Jin-wook's batting average against right-handed batters was .299 with an opponent OPS of .908, but his batting average against left-handed batters was a whopping .458 and his opponent OPS was 1.438. He struggled last year, going 1-3 with a 10.00 earned run average in 14 games (27 innings), and he was especially hammered by left-handed hitters.
This year is the same. Kim Jin-wook's batting average against left-handed hitters this year is .375 and his opponent OPS is 1.037. Against right-handed hitters his batting average against is .036 and opponent OPS is .136 — polar opposites. He has only one hit allowed in 28 at-bats against right-handed hitters.
The key is how he handles the LG left-handed hitters, who are his nemeses. LG has many left-handed hitters. The regular lineup includes seven left-handed batters: Cheon Seong-ho, Moon Sung-ju, Moon Bo-gyeong, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Hae-min, Hong Chang-gi and Shin Min-jae.
Cheon Seong-ho is hitting .368, Moon Sung-ju .375 and Oh Ji-hwan .304, showing high batting averages. Hong Chang-gi is struggling at .146 and Shin Min-jae at .180.
Since 2023 against Kim Jin-wook, Oh Ji-hwan is 0 for 7, Moon Bo-gyeong is 0 for 6, Park Hae-min is 1 for 5, Hong Chang-gi is 3 for 6, Shin Min-jae is 2 for 4 and Moon Sung-ju is 2 for 3. Right-handed hitter Austin is 1 for 8 (1 home run), and Park Dong-won is 2 for 7.
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