*This content was translated by AI.
Seven key players were missing from the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but there is still something to look forward to. This is the story of the defending champion LG Twins in the KBO League.
LG won a 5-5 draw with the NC Dinos in the 2026 KBO exhibition game held at Masan Baseball Stadium in Yangdeok-dong, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do on the 13th.
The best lineups available are out. In particular, Lee Jae-won (27) and Chun Sung-ho (29), who LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop (58) vowed to give them a chance this season, performed well for two consecutive days. Lee Jae-won and Chun Sung-ho, who hit home runs side by side the previous day, also succeeded in multi-base hits with three walks and two hits and two RBIs, respectively.
There was another secret weapon hidden by LG. This is Lee Young-bin (24), who started as the eighth hitter and second baseman. Lee Young-bin is an infielder who joined LG as the seventh-ranked player in the second round of the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Daejeon Dongsan Elementary School (Daejeon Jung-gu Little) and Chungnam Middle School. He was highly regarded for his potential to become a big guns shortstop with his strong shoulders and athletic ability, but he has not yet met those expectations.
However, it is not a bad start in this exhibition game. Lee Young-bin continued his multi-hit streak with two hits, one RBI, and one stolen base from four times at bat on the previous day, and two hits, one walk, and one run from three times at bat.
In particular, the persistence at bat, which was not seen before, was impressive. Lee Young-bin came out as the first batter at bat in the third inning and persistently cleared Shin Min-hyuk's ball even when the ball count was concentrated on 0B2S. He was grounded out to second base at the end of the eighth pitch, but the preheated bat began to explode after that.
Lee Young-bin, who re-entered with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, fought a full-count fight and hit Jeon Sa-min's two-seam fastball to lead to a double on the right-field line. In the seventh inning, Kim Jin-ho, who was shaking, did not budge and got on base with a walk, and in the ninth inning, he made a hit without missing a real pitch in a 0B2S disadvantage.
This is as expected of LG's first-team batting coach Mo Chang-min (41) before the spring camp. Coach Mo Chang-min, who met with Star News at the Okinawa spring camp in Japan last month, said, "I think it's a matter of physical strength that our team had a good batting sense after the break last year. Since it's a team where the main players play a lot of games, if you move more and your physical strength decreases, you'll have a slump," he said.
In that sense, I think Koo Bon-hyuk's presence was great in our team's victory last year. It's hard to talk about a specific player, but Koo Bon-hyuk allowed the main players to accumulate their physical strength. Our goal with the coach this year is to find such players again," he stressed.
At the same time, it was Chun Sung-ho and Lee Young-bin who were mentioned. I hope that Chun Sung-ho, who is talented in hitting, will grow into a second player like Shin Min-jae, who goes back and forth between the infield and the outfield. Lee Young-bin, who can play shortstop, is considered a player who can become Oh Ji-hwan's successor beyond the second Koo Bon-hyuk.
Coach Mo Chang-min said, "I think Chun Sung-ho, Lee Young-bin and Moon Jung-bin have improved a lot in this spring camp. I have established myself in terms of hitting routines and mechanisms," he praised.
In particular, I paid attention to Lee Young-bin's growth. Lee Young-bin has shown great weakness in his pioneering eye with a batting average of 0.220 (79 hits in 359 at-bats) with eight home runs, 27 walks and 131 strikeouts, and an on-base percentage of 0.277 in 207 games in the first division. Coach Mo Chang-min, who paid attention to this part, changed his direction a little.
Coach Mo Chang-min said, "It is clear that Lee Young-bin has good talent. However, even though he was a backup player, he struck out too many. Even if I can't go to the game much, I need contact ability to fight against the opponent, but I lacked that part," he pointed out. "This year, we tried to increase the accuracy by adjusting the angle of the batting to between 20 and 25 degrees. We asked to hit a lot of line-drive balls, but the accuracy has improved a lot so far."
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop also did not miss the prospect of improving and growing little by little. During the Okinawa spring camp, Yeom Kyung-yeop said, "The most important players this year are Lee Jae-won and Chun Sung-ho. Lee Young-bin clarified his position, "There is still time because Koo Bon-hyuk has grown up."
"But I think Lee Young-bin is also ready to fight to some extent (in the first division). We had two years to prepare together, and this year, we are going to give you a chance to full season. I've never given Lee Young-bin a chance," he said, leaving open the possibility.
It is Lee Young-bin who took the first step at the crossroads between the prospect of late life and the prospect of high life. The head coach also clearly expressed his intention. Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, "When we give you a chance, if we don't catch it, we have no choice but to go back to the competitive structure. If you continue to give opportunities when you can't, equity will decrease. There are some cases like that in our team now. I have to take that opportunity in a year or two when I push it to the grass. I can't give you a chance until long either," he stressed.
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*This content was translated by AI.
