Even a champion manager said, "It must have been desperate," as a 11-win left-handed starter was suddenly moved to the closer role, yet the person at the center of the controversy, who recorded his first career save, remained calm. "Some fans are worried..."

*This content was translated by AI.

National team left-hander Son Ju-young (28, LG Twins), who recorded his first career save, calmly handled the controversy surrounding him.

On the 13th, in the top of the 9th inning of the Jamsil Samsung game, with LG leading 5-3, Son Ju-young entered the game and secured the team's victory with a perfect inning, allowing only one strikeout.

As a starter who had achieved 10 wins in a season, he displayed remarkable stability. Son Ju-young threw a 149 km/h fastball to the first batter, Kim Heon-gon, and recorded an out on the first pitch via a foul fly. He then retired Kim Ji-chan with a left fielder's fly ball in five pitches and faced Gu Ja-wook. Gu Ja-wook was in good hitting form, hitting a home run-type ball earlier in the day. As expected, he made the battle difficult, extending it to 10 pitches. However, Son Ju-young used his fast ball reaching up to 153 km/h and his cutter to finally retire Gu Ja-wook with a swinging strikeout. It was his first save in 10 years since his 1st division debut in 2017.

After the game, Son Ju-young stated, "I wanted to join the team quickly during my rehabilitation and be of help. I approached rehabilitation with the mindset of slowly rebuilding my body from the basics. I would like to thank coaches Choi Jae-hoon and Yeo Geon-wook for their careful scheduling and attention while I was with the rehabilitation team."

Son Ju-young's transition to the closer role was first revealed ahead of the Jamsil Samsung game on the 12th. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop explained, "This season, our team had closer Yu Young-chan and went on an 8-game winning streak. After evaluating his mental strength, pitching velocity, and breaking balls, we decided it would be better for Son Ju-young to take over the closer role."

With the established closer Yu Young-chan (29) effectively out for the season due to elbow surgery, the ripple effect reached the starting rotation. This decision sparked debate among fans. Some questioned whether it was right to convert a left-handed starter, who had been carefully developed, into a closer who would have to pitch in consecutive games.

Son Ju-young is a left-handed pitcher who graduated from Ulsan Daehyun Elementary, Gaeseong Middle, and Gyeongnam High School before joining the team as the 2nd overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2017 KBO Rookie Draft. He established himself as a key part of the starting rotation during his first full-time season in 2024. Last year, he went 11-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 30 games, contributing to the Korean Series championship. Recognizing this performance, he earned the right to wear the national team jersey at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in March this year.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop, who carefully planned and led the team to two championships over the past three years, certainly understands the importance of a left-handed starter. Nevertheless, he decided to move Son Ju-young to the closer role because he recognized the critical importance of the "back door." After Yu Young-chan's departure, LG's bullpen ERA was 5.43, ranking 8th in the league. With the back door shaking, it became difficult to see the team's usual resilient performance of holding on and turning the game around in the late innings. In fact, after Yu Young-chan's injury departure, LG managed only 8 wins and 8 losses in 16 games. When they surrendered the first run, they lost all five games. Even in games where they led through the 5th inning, they went 4-3 during the same period, tying with SSG Landers for the lowest winning percentage in the league.

Ahead of the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles game on the 10th, Manager Yeom expressed his difficulties, stating, "A team with a top starter and a closer will inevitably make it to the postseason. A starter's loss ends as a single loss, but a closer's loss can dictate the team's mood and momentum, so the impact is huge." He continued, "You cannot just put anyone in the closer role. A team with an unstable back door cannot go the distance. Looking at past dynasties, they all had stable closers. In short series, you can make exceptions, but in the pennant race, exceptions never work."

He further added, "If you take this lightly and pick anyone to move to another role, 90% of the time it leads to failure due to mistakes. There are limits to rotating pitchers. To increase the probability of a successful save, you need good velocity, a decisive pitch, and strong mental fortitude. It may be difficult to find someone who has all of these, but we must find someone similar."

The past two weeks spent searching for the right person were a continuous source of anxiety, making viewers think, "It must have been desperate." While they looked for closer candidates among existing resources such as Jang Hyun-sik (31), Ham Deok-ju (31), and Kim Young-woo (20), none met expectations. Jang Hyun-sik, with 18 games, 3 wins, 2 losses, 7 holds, 2 saves, a 4.67 ERA, a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.44, and a batting average against of 0.258 this year, failed to inspire much confidence.

Kim Young-woo, despite a record of 1 win, 0 losses, 2 holds, and a 3.29 ERA in 16 games, showed deficiencies with 13 2/3 innings, 8 walks, 12 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.39, and a batting average against of 0.235, indicating control issues. Ham Deok-ju's situation was even more serious; in 17 games, he went 1-1 with 2 holds, 1 save, a 7.43 ERA, 13 1/3 innings, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts, a WHIP of 2.03, and a batting average against of 0.344, leading to a notification to move to the minor league.

Fortunately, the starting rotation was performing steadily, ranking 2nd in the league with a 3.83 ERA. Thanks to Lachlan Wells, Anders Tollhurst, Song Seung-gi, and Im Chan-kyu reliably handling the rotation even while foreign pitcher Yoni Chirinos struggled, Son Ju-young's card as a closer could be considered. After numerous tests and deep deliberation, the decision was made, and for now, Son Ju-young will be responsible for LG's back door. The person involved had anticipated and prepared for this.

Son Ju-young said, "During the period I was out due to injury, the starting pitchers were fighting hard so that there would be no starting spot left for me to return to. (Yu) Young-chan hyung saw my injury and thought that when I return, I might be able to play as a middle reliever or a long reliever pitching 2-3 innings this year. I hadn't even thought about becoming a closer."

He continued, "I know there are fans worried about me pitching as a closer. However, I will prepare well to consistently handle the closer role and will respond to the expectations of the fans who have supported and waited for my return with a good performance."

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*This content was translated by AI.