"It's a time when mental management is needed."
Outfielder Hong Chang-gi of the professional baseball team LG Twins, who has been suffering from severe batting slumps, will undergo regrouping.
LG excluded Hong Chang-gi from the starting lineup ahead of the away game against the Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 19th.
Hong Chang-gi is in an extreme early-season batting slump. His season batting average is .148 (54 at-bats, 8 hits), with 3 RBIs and 6 runs. He has 15 walks, 3 hit-by-pitches and 16 strikeouts, with a on-base percentage of .361, slugging percentage of .185 and an OPS of .546.
He has taken many strikeout swings on the borderline of the ABS zone, but his strikeout total has increased compared with previous years. It's nearly one per game. Over the last 10 games his batting average is .074 (27 at-bats, 2 hits), leaving him mired in a seemingly endless slump.
Meeting with reporters before the game, manager Youm Kyoung-youb said, "Hong Chang-gi is at a point where mental management is needed. He needs time to regroup rather than being removed from the first-team roster," and added, "Our lineup's flow continues better when Hong Chang-gi comes alive."
He went on to say, "Watching him yesterday, he reached his limit. He needs time to regroup again. I plan to keep him out of action for about four games and make him train a lot. We will avoid using him in games as much as possible; you can think of him as going out mainly as a defensive substitute. If he bats as a pinch hitter when his condition isn't good, it could make things worse."
Manager Youm Kyoung-youb revealed plans to give starting opportunities in the first team to some hitters who are showing excellent batting form on the Futures stage. He said, "You should use them when they're doing well. There will be some roster changes on Monday."
Meanwhile, LG set a starting lineup of center fielder Park Hae-min, left fielder Moon Sung-ju, first baseman Austin Dean, designated hitter Moon Bo-gyeong, shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, right fielder Chun Sung-ho, catcher Park Dong-won, third baseman Lee Young-bin and second baseman Shin Min-jae. Foreign pitcher Anders Tolhurst will start on the mound.
This season he has a 2-1 record and a 4.80 ERA in three appearances. Against KIA on March 31 he collapsed, allowing seven runs in three innings, but he rebounded by recording consecutive quality starts against Kiwoom and SSG afterward.
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