Yoo Young-chan is the only one I can trust, but I'm so nervous about the ending. It's not a regular season issue.

Aug 31, 2025

Yoo Young-chan is the only one I can trust, but I'm so nervous about the ending. It's not a regular season issue.
A game between the LG Twins and the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Stadium on the 31st. LG Yoo Young-chan is pitching hard. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.08.31/



It's not about winning the regular season.

The LG Twins' scary rise was cut off. LG lost 5-6 against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Stadium on the 31st. He tied the game at 5-5, but gave up the winning run in the ninth inning due to Oh Ji-hwan's error.

In fact, Oh Ji-hwan made a clutch error, so attention was inevitably focused on that side, but the problem was the difficulty of closing Yoo Young-chan.




As soon as Yoo Young-chan took the mound, he gave up a straight walk to Song Sung-moon. The ball couldn't even get near the strike zone. The ball control is completely jagged.

When he couldn't control his fastball, he pitched a slider-oriented pitch against Lim Ji-yeol. However, it is regrettable that even after catching the 2S, he lost confidence and threw only a manned ball, and was pushed to the full count. It was fortunate that he struck out swinging with the final slider ball. However, Song Sung-moon was in crisis as he succeeded in stealing second base.

Lee Joo-hyung's opponent is the first ball. Then, the LG bench ordered four automatic pitches. And Kiwoom scored a come-from-behind score by using Kim Tae-jin's pinch-hitting operation instead of Joo Sung-won. Kim Tae-jin's ball was a double play, but Song Sung-moon's base learning to cover Oh Ji-hwan was amazing.




Yoo Young-chan is the only one I can trust, but I'm so nervous about the ending. It's not a regular season issue.
A game between the KIA Tigers and the LG Twins at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 24th. LG closer Yoo Young-chan, who struck out KIA Park Chan-ho with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, is catching his breath. Gwangju = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.08.24/
The fact that the closing pitcher gathered the runners before that was a problem. Yoo Young-chan was anxious for two consecutive days. A day earlier, in the game against Kiwoom, he gave up two hits and a pitch in the first ⅓, allowing one run. In the ninth inning with two outs and a third base, Yoo Young-chan put Lee Ju-hyung's relative wild folk ball to the ground, but Lee Ju-hyung did not avoid it and was hit by the ball in the foot, so Yoo Young-chan and LG lived in a situation. The problem is that the ball control was also shaken out of control at the match point on this day.

It's not just two games against Kiwoom. In recent games where they earn saves, anxiety also looms. He struck out three against the Lotte Giants on the 20th and allowed no runs, but gave up one hit and one walk each. It was surprising that he gave up two walks against the KIA Tigers on the 23rd and two hits and two walks in one ⅓ against the KIA on the 24th. He didn't lose a point and kept blocking it, but the bank burst in Kiwoom's two consecutive games.

Yoo Young-chan is the only one I can trust, but I'm so nervous about the ending. It's not a regular season issue.
A game between LG and Kiwoom at Jamsil Stadium on the 30th. LG won against Kiwoom. LG's Park Dong-won and Yoo Young-chan are sharing the joy of winning after the game. Jamsil = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.30/
First of all, when it appeared like a comet two years ago, it was not that powerful ball. The fastball speed is in the late 140km range, but it is not threatening to leave the zone from the beginning. The heavyness disappeared, too. Sliders in the mid-130km range are also less sharp. The epitome of a pitcher who pitches away when he has no faith in his ball is emerging.




The regular season is not a problem. Blon saves can be made, and even if the game is tied or overturned, the powerful batters can overcome it. The impact of one loss is not so great.

However, LG is a team that is aiming to win the championship. In short-term games, if the finish collapses, the aftereffects are many times that of regular season games. The series may change. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop's concern is that there is no bullpen other than Yoo Young-chan who can trust and leave one inning. Veteran Kim Jin-sung also threw a lot, and Kim Young-woo is now a growing rookie. Other pitchers are anxious about ball control and control. In the meantime, if Yoo Young-chan is shaken, there is no way that LG should not face a crisis. In autumn baseball, it seems that the time has come for manager Yeom to think about it so that he can find that overwhelming image before.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.