LG on the brink: "What to do about Kim Do-young?" → If they challenge him, he hits home runs; if they avoid him, Castro is terrifying

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

"What to do about Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers)?"

The LG Twins, pushed to the brink of elimination in the Junior Playoffs (a best-of-five series), are caught in a "Kim Do-young dilemma." If they challenge him, his home runs are frightening; if they avoid him, they risk giving RBI opportunities to the following batters.

In Games 1 and 2 of the Junior Playoffs held in Gwangju on the 17th and 18th, LG suffered consecutive losses with scores of 1-5 and 3-6, respectively. They are now in a position where losing just one more of the remaining three games will end their postseason run.

In Game 1, LG fell victim to a one-man show by Kim Do-young. In the bottom of the fourth inning, with the score tied at 1-1, LG starting pitcher Tolhurst threw a 149 km/h fastball on the inside edge as his first pitch, allowing Kim Do-young to hit a go-ahead solo home run to left field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 1-3, with a count of 3-2, Jang Hyun-seok's sixth pitch, a 133 km/h forkball, was located in the middle of the plate, resulting in a decisive two-run homer.

Game 2 was different. LG starting pitcher Im Chan-gyu faced Kim Do-young in the bottom of the first inning and threw four consecutive high pitches outside the strike zone, issuing a walk. In the bottom of the second inning, Kennedy induced a groundout to shortstop with a low fastball on the first pitch. In the bottom of the fourth inning, reliever Woo Kang-hoon allowed a base on balls after five pitches. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kim Gang-ryul recorded an out against center field with a low inside fastball on the second pitch.

Although they issued two base-on-balls, they succeeded in holding Kim Do-young to no hits in two at-bats by never throwing an easy-to-hit ball, even when issuing walks.

Nevertheless, LG failed to secure a victory. This is because the hitting form of the batters following Kim Do-young was also formidable.

In the bottom of the first inning of Game 2, after third batter Kim Do-young walked, Castro, Na Seong-beom, Kim Sun-bin, Han Jun-su, and Ha Ju-seok hit five consecutive singles, scoring a massive five runs. In particular, fourth batter Castro has been slashing in this Junior Playoffs, with four hits in seven at-bats (a .571 batting average) and two RBIs, including a home run in Game 1. For LG, even if they avoid Kim Do-young, they cannot ignore the bats of subsequent hitters like Castro.

In Game 3 to be held in Jamsil on the 20th, LG announced KARAasco as their starting pitcher. KARAasco was strong against Kim Do-young during this regular season, holding him to no hits in three at-bats with two strikeouts. Attention is now focused on whether LG can effectively shut down "superstar" Kim Do-young in the remaining series to write a miracle comeback story.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original