*This content was translated by AI.
LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (58) cited second baseman Shin Min-jae (30) who won the Golden Glove last year as a source of anxiety this year.
Last year, Shin Min-jae released one of LG's long-cherished aspirations. He won the 2025 KBO Golden Glove 2nd baseman category with a batting average of 0.313 (145 hits in 463) with one home run, 61 RBIs, 87 runs and 15 steals, and a 0.395 on-base percentage of 0.382 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.777.
Hong Chang-ki (33), who fell out due to an unexpected injury, was recognized for his performance in completely filling the absence of the table setter and leading LG to its fourth unified championship. It has been 31 years since Park Jong-ho, who led the team to the unified championship in 1994. In recognition of his achievement, he ranked No. 1 in the LG team's fielder's work.
The narrative that started as a foster player for the Doosan Bears in 2015 and moved to LG in the second KBO draft in 2018 after the end of the 2017 season, and after enduring a long career as a backup, also received a lot of attention.
He was also selected for the national team and was considered the core of LG in 2026, which is trying to win its second consecutive Korean Series title. However, coach Yeom Kyung-yeop, who was the No. 1 contributor to discovering Shin Min-jae and delighted with his performance, was cautious.
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop, who recently met with reporters at the LG New Year's greeting ceremony in 2026, said, "Last year, our team did not mark a vertex. Shin Min-jae is the one who hit the vertex. That's why I'm nervous about (Shin) Min-jae."
He was wary of rising expectations. This year marks Shin Min-jae's 12th year as a professional, but it has only been three years since he played a full-time season due to his long backup life. It has been two years since the regulation was completed, and there are still not enough samples to be considered a constant.
It is no different from Kim Young-woo (21), a rookie who also cited as a risk factor and played his first full-time game last year. Coach Yeom said, "(Shin) Min-jae did a very good job if he was good at maintaining the status quo. This year, it is very important for Min-jae to keep his own without trying to do better, he said. "I will go to the camp and interview him." The same goes for (Kim) Young-woo, and players with such risks try to meet and talk," he said with strength.
Overall, however, expectations were higher for electricity this year. Coach Yeom said, "I don't think our victory last year was caused by a vertex. There are players who play a decisive role in making the championship. "It's very important what kind of career those players have," he said.
"For example, (Son) Joo-young should have done much better. The same goes for Moon Bo-kyung. Song Seung-ki is the only one to say that he has grown up. However, (Song) Seung-gi is in the beginning stage, so it can be further developed. If your ball control gets better, you can make the game easier. So, the value of Seung-gi is not a vertex, but it should be seen as having the potential to grow further in the future," he expected.
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*This content was translated by AI.
