LG Twins’ two most recent trades are ‘sore fingers’. Can we enjoy the negative effect of the past two years and the trade effect this year?
Right before the start of the 2021 season, LG brought in Ham Deok-joo and Chae Ji-seon in a 2-2 trade with Doosan, and sent Yang Seok-hwan and Nam-ho away. Ahead of the second half of the 2021 season, Seo Kun-chang was recruited in a one-on-one trade with Kiwoom, and Jeong Chan-heon was sent.
In 2021 and 2022, the performance of Ham Deok-ju and Seo Geon-chang was incomplete. Last year, I couldn’t see him often in the first team. This year, when new coach Yeom Kyung-yeop took the helm, Seo Kun-chang and Ham Deok-joo should meet expectations.
General Manager Cha Myung-seok couldn’t help but laugh when talking about trade over the past two years. Last year, there were several trade inquiries, but none of them were successful. It was not without the influence of Ham Deok-ju and Seo Geon-chang.
In the 2021 season, the first year of his trade, Ham Deok-ju was sluggish with an average ERA of 4.29 with 1 win, 2 losses and 1 hold in 16 games (21 innings). In early May, he went down to the 2nd group due to elbow pain, and returned to the 1st group after 4 months of rehabilitation instead of surgery. The pain recurred at the end of the season, and he underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment in his elbow after the season.
Last year, Ham Deok-joo recorded an average ERA of 2.13 without winning or losing in 13 games (12⅔ innings). In early May of last year, I went down to the 2nd team to prepare for the transition from a bullpen pitcher to a starting pitcher, but after one start in the 2nd team, it did not go as I wanted due to an injury. He returned to action in September and finished the season as a reliever pitcher in the second team.
On the other hand, Yang Seok-hwan, who wore a Doosan uniform, was reborn as a first baseman. In 2021, Oh Jae-il (Samsung) filled the free agent transfer void and played an active role as a first baseman, recording a batting average of 207, 28 homers, 96 RBIs, and OPS .827 in 133 games. He was the No. 1 home run among Doosan hitters.
Last year, Yang Seok-hwan recorded a batting average of .204, 20 home runs, 51 RBIs, and an OPS of .741 in 107 games due to a side injury. His grades declined from his first year. Still, he hit 20 home runs for the second year in a row.
Compared to Ham Deok-joo’s performance, which was only 33⅔ innings for two years, Yang Seok-hwan flew as a center hitter with 48 home runs and 146 RBIs over two years. LG was sick to the stomach.
After the first half of the 2021 season, LG used the 5 starter as a trade card to reinforce the second baseman. However, the effect of reinforcing the second baseman was insignificant.
Seo Kun-chang wore an LG uniform in the second half of 2021 and scored only 24 RBIs and 33 points in 68 games. He was lower than his batting average of 2.5 pun 9 ri in 76 games recorded at Kiwoom in the first half. He served as the number 2 hitter but did not contribute significantly on offense.
Seo Geon-chang only played 77 games last year, and he was sluggish with a batting average of 2.2, 4.18, and an OPS of .605. If it weren’t for the successive failures of foreign batters who can play second base, the chance to play would have decreased even more. 안전놀이터
Jeong Chan-heon, who left for Kiwoom, recorded an average ERA of 3.99 with 3 wins and 3 losses in 11 games in the second half of 2021. It was similar to the average ERA of 4.03 in 12 games in LG in the first half. Last year, he went 5-6 with a 5.36 earned run average in 20 games. He played the rotation well with 5 starts.
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop expressed his intention to appoint Seo Geon-chang as the second baseman this year. I had the experience of coaching Seo Gun-chang when I was coaching Nexen, and at that time Seo Gun-chang achieved 200 hits in the season. Ham Deok-joo can add strength to the mound with the bullpen rather than starting. First you have to be healthy.
Will we see the revival of a left-handed pitcher who was once a national team player and a hitter who hit 200 hits for the first time in the KBO League?