LG, without both Ko Woo-seok and Son Ju-young: Is Austin, with a .200 postseason batting average, the only reliable option? How will they face off against Gwak Bin, who leads the league in ERA with 197 strikeouts? [WC Preview]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

The mound, which wavered throughout the regular season, was hit by bad news right up until the end. The LG Twins will face the Doosan Bears in their first fall baseball game without Son Ju-young (28), the closer who recorded 31 saves, while Doosan fields Gwak Bin (27), the league's top ace.

LG and Doosan will play Game 1 of the Wild Card Series for the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason (PS) at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on the 14th.

The fourth-place LG advanced to fall baseball with a record of 78 wins, 1 draw, and 65 losses, while fifth-place Doosan qualified with 74 wins, 5 draws, and 65 losses. In the Wild Card Series, where the fourth-place team holds a one-game advantage, LG will advance to the Junior Playoffs (Junior PO) if they secure either one win or one draw. Conversely, Doosan must win two consecutive games to move on to the next stage.

The objective conditions favor LG. They also dominated Doosan in their head-to-head regular season record with 11 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses. However, the weight of the starting pitchers, which is most critical in a short series, leans toward Doosan.

Doosan will start Gwak Bin, the league's ace. This season, Gwak Bin recorded an 11-7 record with a 2.24 ERA over 27 games, striking out 197 batters in 161 innings to claim the double crown for ERA and strikeouts. His walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is also just 1.04.

He was strong against LG as well. Although he went winless with one loss in three games, he allowed only four runs over 18⅓ innings. His ERA was 1.96, and he recorded a whopping 27 strikeouts. On September 3, despite pitching seven innings while allowing just one run, he took the loss due to a lack of scoring support from his lineup.

The most promising hitter for LG to attack Gwak Bin is MVP candidate Austin Dean (33). Austin played in all 144 games this season, slashing a .331 batting average (180 hits in 543 at-bats) with 41 home runs, 127 RBIs, and 114 runs scored. He posted an on-base percentage of .427, a slugging percentage of .635, and an OPS of 1.062. His batting average in scoring position was .385, showing he is a hitter who knows how to shift the momentum. Against Doosan, he hit .348 (23 hits in 66 at-bats) with two home runs and six RBIs. Against Gwak Bin specifically, he went 3-for-9 (.333) with one home run.

However, concerns remain given his career postseason batting average of .200. Furthermore, his hitting has cooled in October, where he is batting .200 (7 hits in 35 at-bats), making the result of his first at-bat crucial. Otherwise, Moon Bo-kyung (26) was not bad, going 2-for-6. In contrast, Hong Chang-gi (33) went 1-for-6, and Shin Min-jae (30) managed only 1 hit in 7 at-bats.

LG will counter with Carlos Karasuko (39). Karasuko recorded a 6-3 record with a 4.05 ERA in 11 games this season. He has the memory of delivering a seven-inning scoreless perfect pitch against Doosan in his KBO League debut on August 1. At that time, he did not earn the win due to a lack of support from the lineup and the bullpen.

The problem lies after Karasuko. LG fought fiercely for third place until the end of the season but ultimately fell to fourth. Additionally, closer Son Ju-young was excluded from the Wild Card roster due to a neck muscle strain.

After starting closer Yoo Young-chan (27) departed, Son Ju-young took over the back end of the bullpen, recording 31 saves with a 1-2 record and a 3.22 ERA in 47 games. However, he cannot take the mound in the most critical first game of fall baseball. Ko Woo-seok (28), who returned near the end of the season, is also unable to play in the PS due to player registration deadline issues. With Kim Jin-sung (41) also out with an injury, LG must finish games using their remaining bullpen resources, including John Kennedy (32).

Doosan cannot simply laugh it off either. Infielder Park Jun-soon (20), who contributed to the gold medal at the Asian Games, has been sidelined with a thigh injury. Moreover, Doosan's team batting average against LG in the regular season was just .231. During the three matchups where Gwak Bin faced LG, the Doosan lineup failed to score even one run in the 18th⅓ innings he spent on the mound.

History is also on LG's side. Since the introduction of the Wild Card Series in 2015, the only instance of a fifth-place team advancing to the Junior PO was KT Wiz in 2024. Coincidentally, the fourth-place team that was eliminated at that time was Doosan. That year, despite starting Gwak Bin in Game 1, Doosan lost 0-4 and also dropped Game 2 0-1, resulting in their elimination. This time, Doosan, led by Gwak Bin, aims for a turnaround. LG will face them relying on their regular season head-to-head advantage and the one-game lead.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original