'May Batting Average 0.145' Cheon Seong-ho Returns to 5th Spot and First Base! Faces 159 km/h Super Rookie [Jamsil On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

LG Twins' Cheon Seong-ho (29) is set to face Kiwoom Heroes' super rookie Park Jun-hyun (19), who throws a fastball reaching speeds up to 159 km/h.

On the 24th, ahead of their home game against Kiwoom in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium, LG announced its starting lineup.

On this day, LG constructed its batting order as follows: Hong Chang-ki (right fielder), Park Hae-min (center fielder), Austin Dean (first baseman), Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop), Cheon Seong-ho (first baseman), Lee Young-bin (third baseman), Song Chan-ui (left fielder), Lee Ju-heon (catcher), and Shin Min-jae (second baseman). The starting pitcher is Song Seung-gi.

It is notable that Cheon Seong-ho, who has been struggling with poor batting performance recently, has returned to the cleanup spot in the starting lineup. Cheon Seong-ho hit .369 (31 hits in 84 at-bats) over 26 games through April, but his performance dipped to .145 (8 hits in 55 at-bats) over 19 games in May.

In contrast, the opposing pitcher, Park Jun-hyun, has shown strong performance in his debut season with a record of 1 win and 1 loss in 4 games, an ERA of 2.29, 19⅔ innings pitched, 13 walks, and 17 strikeouts. This made Cheon Seong-ho's selection particularly noteworthy.

Before the game, manager Yeom Kyung-yeop explained, "Cheon Seong-ho and Koo Bon-hyuk are players we must continue to use. This is necessary for building up their performance next year, so we plan to use them extensively this year. Both Bon-hyuk and Seong-ho need to improve beyond their current levels."

He also paid close attention to how they handle fast pitches. Manager Yeom stated, "At this point, Cheon Seong-ho has a higher probability of hitting fastballs exceeding 150 km/h. If it were another pitcher, we might have used Moon Jung-bin, but Seong-ho currently has better ability to keep up with that speed."

In the previous day's game (on the 23rd), the starting lineup led the team to victory with strong performances. Lee Ju-heon hit .333 (3 hits in 3 at-bats) with 1 walk, 1 run, and 1 RBI; Oh Ji-hwan went 2-for-4 with 2 runs; and Park Dong-won hit .500 (1 hit in 2 at-bats) with 1 walk and 2 RBIs.

Manager Yeom smiled and said, "Yesterday, we won thanks to our starters stepping up. Hopefully, they'll continue to recover..." He added, "The batting coach is working on various strategies during training. I believe things will gradually improve."

A key training focus has been moving the batting point forward. Manager Yeom emphasized, "We are actively working to bring the batting point forward. Overall, the batting points are too far back, which prevents barrel hits. Looking at teams that are currently hitting well, their batting points are all forward. You must hit well from the front to increase extra-base hits and produce quality contact."

He continued, "Of course, there are players whose natural batting point is further back. Hong Chang-ki is one of them, but even he currently has his point too far back. This happens because he tries too hard to make contact when he keeps missing. However, all battles must be fought aggressively. If you chase the ball, your batting balance can completely collapse."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.