Baek Seung-hyeon (28) of LG set a milestone by recording his first save in 3 years of pitching.
He turned from a promising shortstop to a pitcher to succeed Oh Ji-hwan (33), and is starting a successful period as a bullpen pitcher with a 150km fastball. Baek Seung-hyun said he wanted to resemble Ko Woo-seok (25), a junior on his team.메이저사이트
Baek Seung-hyun took the mound in the 9th inning with one out and loaded the bases 3-2 in the game against Samsung held at Jamsil Stadium on the 14th. Ham Deok-joo, who took the mound as a closing mission in the ninth inning, was put on the verge of being loaded with bases due to a walk and an error.
He faced Kang Min-ho, the opponent’s center hitter, with the bases full. In a situation where the burden of a turnaround with one hit was 100 times, Baek Seung-hyun struck out Min-ho Kang on a swing with a sharp slider. Baek Seung-hyeon, who took a breather, kept the victory by one point by handling geopo Kim Dong-yeop with a straight hit by shortstop at the second bases loaded. With his team’s victory, Baek Seung-hyun recorded his first save in his debut.
Baek Seung-hyun, who was nominated by LG in the 2nd and 3rd round of the 2015 draft (30th overall), completed his military service early as soon as he joined. He made his first-team debut in 2017 as a player in his military career. He was evaluated as a shortstop to succeed Oh Ji-hwan, but Baek Seung-hyeon did not have many first-team opportunities.
In three seasons from 2017 to 2019, he only made 28 business trips. After the 2019 season, participating in the Australian Professional Baseball as a member of Geelong Korea became a turning point. In January 2020, he pitched as a pitcher during an Australian professional baseball game, and threw a 154 km fastball.
After visiting Geelong Korea, he went back and forth between the 1st and 2nd teams as a shortstop in the 2020 season, and Baek Seung-hyun made a decision during the first half. Turned into a pitcher.
Baek Seung-hyun said, “I felt a wall while playing as a fielder in the first half after going to Geelong Korea. He thought he was missing a lot. He was both hitting and defending. He seemed like he would only be in the 2nd team as a fielder. His goal was to play baseball in the first team, so he decided to become a pitcher with the feeling that it was his last, and he wanted to do something.”
The experience and results of pitching in Geelong Korea made him take on new challenges. As a hitter, Baek Seung-hyun recorded a career batting average of .201 and 3 (19 hits in 89 at-bats) OPS .547 until the 2020 season.
In the second half of the 2020 season, he trained the basics as a pitcher and did not even participate in the second team game. He gained experience as a pitcher in the Futures League in the 2021 season. On June 5, 2021, he made his professional debut as a pitcher against Gwangju KIA. On this day, he threw a fastball with the highest velocity of 153 km and showed an average velocity of 151 km.
In the 2021 season, he appeared in 16 games as a pitcher in the first group and showed potential with an ERA of 2.16 per hold. However, he underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment in his elbow after the season. In the 2022 season, in the first group, it was sluggish with an average ERA of 10.80 in 12 games.
Baek Seung-hyun said, “I have no regrets about becoming a pitcher.”
Head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop, who took over as LG commanding tower last fall, picked Baek Seung-hyun as a promising bullpen resource. He was raised as a long-relief resource in spring camp, and continued pitching in three consecutive games from the bullpen at the beginning of the season. However, on April 10, he left due to a shoulder injury and returned to the first team on the 4th. He had a hiatus of about 2 months.
Baek Seung-hyun said, “It was regrettable, but I promised myself that I should never get sick next time. At that time, he was sick, but I think I prepared a lot.”
When asked if there is a player he considers a role model, Baek Seung-hyun said, “My team’s Woo-seok has a lot of experience… Woo-seok has a lot of experience since he was young in important situations, and he always throws the best ball on our team. “I want to learn how to exercise or take care of my body, and I tend to follow it a lot,” he said.