"A confident presence is the best in our team": How the LG Twins' 2R right-hander, blossoming after six years, captured Yeom Kyung-yeop's heart

*This content was translated by AI.

LG Twins right-hander Kim Jin-su (28) captured the heart of manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (58) with his spirited pitching.

Kim Jin-su, a right-handed pitcher who graduated from Iseo Elementary School, Gunsan Middle School, Gunsan High School, and Chung-Ang University, was selected by LG in the second round, 17th overall, of the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft. While his average fastball velocity is only 143 km/h, his strength lies in his diverse arsenal of curveballs, forkballs, sliders, and changeups.

However, for the past five years, he failed to shine significantly, appearing in just 15 games and pitching 20⅔ innings in the first division. He began the season in the Futures League this year as well, but received an early call-up to the first division due to injuries among key bullpen members.

His performance exceeded expectations, breathing new life into the LG bullpen. He often pitched many innings when the team was trailing, minimizing bullpen fatigue. This culminated in his first career win against the Jamsil Doosan Bears on April 25, finally blossoming.

He continued to seize opportunities, recording a scoreless two-inning performance against the Suwon KT Wiz on April 30 for his second win of the season, followed by three consecutive scoreless outings that lowered his season ERA to 2.79.

Ahead of the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles game on the 9th, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop praised, "I really like (Kim) Jin-su's style. I brought him to camp last year because his presence on the mound is the best among our middle relievers." He further emphasized, "Jin-su's average fastball velocity is around 144 km/h. He hits 148 km/h only occasionally. But he is confident on the mound."

No matter the opponent or situation, the manager cannot help but be impressed by his spirited pitching. A representative scene occurred during the Daejeon Hanwha game on the 8th. In that game, LG and Hanwha engaged in a fierce battle over 5 hours and 5 minutes, exchanging 32 hits, 12 walks and hit-by-pitches, and 17 runs. With 10 pitchers used by LG, the game went into extra innings, leaving few pitchers available.

After barely taking a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the 11th inning on Park Hae-min's sacrifice fly, LG brought in Kim Jin-su in the top of the 11th. Kim retired the first batter, Lee Do-yoon, with a fly ball to center field, struck out Hwang Young-mok with a swing-and-miss after an eight-pitch battle, and recorded a looking strikeout against Lee Won-seok, securing the team victory.

For Kim Jin-su personally, it was his first save in the first division after six years in the league. This year, LG has struggled with frequent injuries to key players since the start of the season. Manager Yeom sighed, "We have to rethink the batting order and the closer situation. If things continue like this, the season will be too difficult, so we need to find a solution."

However, on this day, the manager was the only one unable to hide a smile when it came to Kim Jin-su.

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*This content was translated by AI.