Professional baseball LG Twins Song Chan-ui (27) is finally seizing opportunities on his own.
Song Chan-ui started as the No. 5 left fielder in the game against the KT Wiz held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 30th. He went 1 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs and one run scored.
Song Chan-ui missed a good chance in the first inning. After one out, LG scored first on a hit by Cheon Seong-ho, a walk by Austin and a hit by Moon Bo-gyeong. Facing Boshili with one out and runners on first and third, Song Chan-ui swung at a two-ball, one-strike middle two-seam fastball (144 km) but hit a grounder right at the shortstop. His timing was just slightly late. It turned into a double play from second to first. They failed to add a run.
With LG leading 1-0 in the fourth inning and nobody out with a runner on first, Song Chan-ui faced Boshili for the second time. Leadoff hitter Moon Bo-gyeong drew a walk on an eight-pitch at-bat to reach base. On a 1-0 count, Song Chan-ui hit Boshili's second-pitch two-seam fastball (144 km) over the left-center fence for a two-run homer.
On a pitch similar to the first inning, a two-seam fastball middle over the plate that Song Chan-ui did not miss sailed over the fence, making up for the disappointment of the first-inning double play. Distance 129 m. His third homer of the season. He struck out in his next two plate appearances.
Song Chan-ui was promoted to the first team on April 21 and has been performing better than expected. In 10 games he is batting .433 (30 at-bats, 13 hits) with three homers, eight RBIs, seven runs, one walk and six strikeouts. On-base percentage .469, slugging percentage .800, OPS 1.269.
He has delivered nine hits and two homers in 18 at-bats over his last five games. Manager Youm Kyoung-youb has moved Song Chan-ui, who had been placed in the lower part of the order, into the No. 5 spot in the heart of the lineup for four consecutive recent games. He is the cleanup trio along with Austin and Moon Bo-gyeong.
Song Chan-ui, who joined in the 2018 rookie draft as a seventh-round, No. 67 pick, made a name for himself by becoming a surprise home run king (six) in the 2022 preseason after returning from military service. He made his first-team debut in the 2022 season, appearing in 33 games with a .236 average, three homers and 10 RBIs. He then managed only one hit in 18 at-bats in 2023 and one hit in 15 at-bats in 2024, failing to secure a spot on the first team.
Last year Manager Youm Kyoung-youb tried to develop Song Chan-ui as a 'backup starter.' He gave him steady opportunities in the first half, and Song Chan-ui hit .211 (147 at-bats, 31 hits) with three homers and 20 RBIs before being sent down to the second team in early July to finish the season. Cheon Seong-ho, acquired in a trade at the end of June, took over the backup role.
Song Chan-ui was not included on the first-team spring camp roster this year. He was excluded from Manager Youm's strategic plans. In the outfield, Lee Jae-won returned after being discharged from Sangmu, and Choi Won-young was the backup. Cheon Seong-ho was a utility for infield and outfield, and there was no spot for Song Chan-ui. But when Lee Jae-won, who mainly appeared as a pinch hitter, managed only one hit in 16 at-bats, they swapped roster spots with Song Chan-ui, who was batting .300 in the second team.
As soon as he came up to the first team, Song Chan-ui has shown good hitting form. He is a spark for an LG lineup in which Hong Chang-ki, Shin Min-jae, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Dong-won and Park Hae-min have not come alive. Song Chan-ui, who hit three homers in 2022 and three homers in 2025, hit three homers in April alone this year. One more would be a career high.
When Song Chan-ui was mainly playing in the second team, an official from another club said, "If he's traded, he'll definitely break out," showing interest. LG is only now showing why it did not trade Song Chan-ui.
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