The warmup was a success. The one-plus-one strategy of bundling two starters for Game 4 of the Korean Series has instilled confidence.

The LG Twins used a one-plus-one strategy in their home game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on Thursday, pairing starter Kim Yoon-sik with starter Lee Jung-yong. It was two pitchers for Game 4 of the Korean Series. LG is preparing its starting rotation for the Korean Series in case Adam Plutko is ruled out of the series due to a bone bruise in his left pelvis. Casey Kelly will be the No. 1 starter, Choi Won-tae and Im Chan-kyu will be the No. 2 and 3 starters, and Kim Yun-sik and Lee Jung-yong will be the No. 4 starters. The starting and second pitchers will be decided depending on the opponent of the Korean Series and the condition of the pitchers. On September 22, Kim Yun-sik pitched 2⅔ innings of scoreless baseball with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts in the sixth inning after Lee Jung-yong pitched five innings against the Jamsil NC Dinos.

So Kim Yun-sik started the game against Doosan and Lee Jung-yong was the second pitcher. 안전놀이터Unexpectedly, Kim Yoon-sik struggled and Lee Jung-yong was brought in early. Kim Yun-sik gave up one run on five hits in two innings. He was lucky to get out of the first inning with three hits and no runs, but the team quickly realized that he wasn’t feeling well and brought in Lee Jung-yong from the third inning, who pitched five innings until the seventh, giving up one run (unearned) on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

In total, the two starters combined for seven innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) on nine hits and four walks.

The 2023 KBO League game between the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears was held at Jamsil Stadium on Thursday. LG’s Kim Yun-sik is pitching. Jamsil=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.10.14/

The 2023 KBO League game between the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears was held at Jamsil Stadium on Thursday. LG’s Lee Jung-yong is pitching. Jamsil=Jae-man Park 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.10.14/
Since Doosan is a team desperately fighting for third place with the SSG Landers and NC Dinos, the game was played as if they were actually in the postseason, which made it that much more effective.

In the Korean Series, no matter who starts, Lee Jung-yong or Kim Yoon-sik, they’ll have to think about bringing in a second pitcher quickly, because they could fall apart early on. It was a pretty good warm-up.

LG is the favorite this season, having quickly clinched the regular season title, but the fact that Plutko, who was their ace in the first half of the season, is not available for the Korean Series is definitely a negative. It can be tough to have only one Korean starter when your opponent has two foreign starters. However, if the one-plus-one strategy is successful in the four-man lineup, it will be hard to envy any foreigner. Kim Yun-sik and Lee Jung-yong have both been steady, especially in the second half.

Kim went 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in six games in the second half, while Lee went 4-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 11 games. If they can hold their own in Game 4 of the Korean Series, it could save the bullpen from being used up in Games 1-3.

LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said that starting pitching was the most important aspect of his team’s preparation for the Korean Series. This is because LG knows that their bullpen is their strongest part, but the starting battle is crucial in big games. Plutko’s unexpected injury almost became LG’s weakness in Game 4 of the Korean Series. The Kim-Yoon-Sik-Jung-Yong one-plus-one could be an unexpected strength.