From "7-crown contender" to "risk of no titles" in just two weeks: What happened to LG's key foreign player? The manager instead offered encouragement, saying, "That is Austin's strength."

*This content was translated by AI.

Until just two weeks ago, LG Twins' key foreign player Austin Dean (33) was on a tear to sweep various batting titles. However, with unexpected pitch avoidance by opponents and fierce pursuit from competitors overlapping at the end of the season, it has become difficult to guarantee even a single individual title.

As recently as the 15th of last month, when Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers) was called up to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games national team, Austin was at the top in seven major batting categories.

He led with 121 RBIs and a .672 slugging percentage, and ranked second with 39 home runs, one behind Kim Do-young. He had 103 runs scored, three behind Kim Do-young, and was second in on-base percentage at .430, trailing Go Ja-yuk (Samsung Lions) by .017. His 166 hits and .344 batting average also ranked third respectively.

In particular, the home run race appeared to be a prime opportunity. The leader, Kim Do-young, was away for about two weeks, and there was also a gap with Sam Hilliard (32, KT Wiz). Austin had already hit his 39th home run of the season in the Daegu Samsung game on September 13, breaking Roberto Ramos' record of 38 home runs set in 2020 to establish a new LG single-season home run record.

During the season, he achieved 30 or more home runs for the third consecutive year and even recorded a cycle. In June, he was also selected as the monthly MVP. It was a season where he could have aimed for both the home run title and the regular season MVP, titles LG had never produced since its founding.

However, a different situation unfolded than expected. Opposing pitchers avoided direct confrontations with Austin, who has excellent clutch abilities. This is evident by the fact that during this period, he drew 10 walks (including one intentional base on balls) and three hit-by-pitches, totaling 13 bases on balls or hit-by-pitches, resulting in an on-base percentage of as high as .567.

As a result, Austin failed to add any home runs from September 15 to 28 while Kim Do-young was away. He managed only five hits, all of which were singles. The clock on his home run count stopped at the 39th home run that set the LG club record.

In the meantime, Hilliard surged up frighteningly. In the same period, he recorded a .359 batting average (14 hits in 39 at-bats), five home runs, 12 RBIs, 12 runs scored, a .426 on-base percentage, and a .744 slugging percentage, officially entering the home run race.

The landscape did not change even after the national team players returned. While Austin added three singles in three games, Kim Do-young hit his 41st home run of the season in his first game back. Hilliard went one step further. Including consecutive home runs over two days, he added two home runs and four RBIs to tie Kim Do-young for the lead with 41 home runs.

Ultimately, as of the end of the game on the 1st, Austin ranked fourth in batting average at .340, third with 39 home runs, second with 122 RBIs, fourth with 108 runs scored, third with 174 hits, and second in both on-base percentage (.434) and slugging percentage (.648).

He is still at the top in all categories, but he does not lead in any of them. His slugging percentage trails Kim Do-young (.650) by .002, and his RBI count is five behind Hilliard (127), leaving room for a reversal. However, since individual titles have a significant impact on the MVP race as well, it remains disappointing.

Nevertheless, LG Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (58) actually confirmed Austin's strengths through this process: that he did not abandon his own style of play for the sake of titles. Before the Incheon SSG game on September 29 last month, Manager Yeom said, "If your own game is established like this, you win titles by playing your own game; no one wins titles by chasing them. If you do, your own game can collapse. I think that is Austin's strength."

Two days later, on October 1, before the SSG game at the same venue, his thoughts were the same. Manager Yeom explained, "If he had been greedy during the Asian Games period, he would have chased pitches and hit them. But he didn't swing; he just got on base incredibly often. Since opponents wouldn't engage him, he endured all of it and just went out there." He added, "A greedy person never endures. They swing at everything. Seeing that, I thought, 'Austin is just playing his own game.'"

In two weeks, he went from a title contender in seven categories to a situation where one might worry about winning no titles at all. Still, Austin did not chase bad pitches for the home run title, nor did he expand his strike zone. This is why Manager Yeom looks at Austin with trust rather than concern at the end of the season, and also why LG does not give up hope in defending its third-place standing amid fierce competition.

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*This content was translated by AI.