'It's not too late yet' — Good news keeps coming: Let's remember again, LG is indeed the 'defending champion'

*This content was translated by AI.

The LG Twins are back in action. It is still not too late to re-enter the race for first place.

Recently, LG has been receiving a string of good news. Most importantly, Go Woo-seok (28), a key figure in their 2023 championship victory, has returned to wear the Twins uniform again. On the 2nd, the LG organization officially announced that it had completed a one-year contract with Go Woo-seok at an annual salary of 500 million won (including 150 million won for the remaining three months of the season) and finalized his player registration.

Go Woo-seok, who served as LG's closer since 2019, recorded 139 saves over five seasons before challenging himself on the U.S. stage for two years and returning to his original team. According to regulations, Go Woo-seok is ineligible to participate in this year's postseason. For the remainder of the regular season, LG plans to utilize him as a setup man who will appear before closer Son Ju-young.

It is also welcome news that key players are gradually regaining their form. Until early July this year, LG appeared to be cruising toward its first-ever back-to-back championship by leading the standings. However, as summer progressed, the team fell into an unexpected slump and dropped from the top of the league.

Nevertheless, the team's underlying strength remains intact. Slowly regaining the characteristics of last year's champion squad, LG has gone on a winning streak with seven victories and three defeats in its last 10 games.

During this period, individual batting and pitching performances have also been outstanding. Among pitchers, Lim Chan-kyu delivered an impressive performance with three wins in three games and no losses, posting an ERA of 1.00. KARA's Scotto and Tolhurst also remained undefeated, securing two and one victories respectively. In the bullpen, Son Ju-young continues to guard the final inning, while newly joined Kennedy is adding strength. Go Woo-seok has now joined them as well.

On the hitting side, a clear turnaround is even more evident. Song Chan-ui and Austin are batting in the .400s with home runs, while Moon Bo-kyung and Shin Min-jae have also begun to recover their form.

Currently in third place, LG trails first-place Samsung Lions by 5.5 games and second-place KT Wiz by five games. With 27 games remaining, there is still an opportunity for a turnaround. LG has lost relatively few players to the Asia Games representative team in Aichi-Nagoya, with only two players — middle reliever Kim Young-woo and infielder Moon Bo-kyung — being called up, resulting in minimal impact on the team's strength.

Especially significant is that there are five games left against Samsung, including a three-game home series this weekend (from the 4th to the 6th), making it worthwhile to compete for victory. This season, LG holds a record of five wins and six losses against Samsung.

There is one fact that baseball fans and other teams must remember again: LG is indeed the defending champion that has won the title twice in the past three years and remains one of the strongest championship contenders this year as well.

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*This content was translated by AI.