(Incheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Hong Gyu-bin = ‘Jamsil Big Boy’ Lee Jae-won (23, LG Twins) was canceled due to injury less than three weeks after returning to the first team.
LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “The left thigh muscle was finely damaged,” ahead of the SSG Landers match held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 25th.
Lee Jae-won played as the 8th hitter in left field the previous day, but was replaced by Hong Chang-ki in the defense at the end of the 5th inning.
At the time, he felt tension in his thigh and received an ice pack, but it was eventually diagnosed as an injury.
Lee Jae-won suffered a side injury at the end of March and stayed in the rehabilitation group for a month.It was only on the 6th of this month that he was registered for the first team entry, but he was dropped from the entry again after 19 days.
Inevitably, setbacks were inevitable in Yeom’s plan for ‘bong baseball’ to strengthen the power of the batting line by placing Lee Jae-won and Park Dong-won, who have good long hitting power, in the lower batting order.
It is more regrettable that Lee Jae-won left due to injury, as he was cruising with 10 hits (3 homers) in 37 at-bats in 15 games after returning, including two-run four the previous day.
Director Yeom said bitterly, “I gave up on injuries this year. This year has a lot of injuries.”
Currently, closer Ko Woo-seok and right-handed starter Lee Min-ho are out with injuries, and Oh Ji-hwan is also on the injured list.
Manager Yeom also expressed regret over the loss against SSG the previous day.
With 9 team hits, he showed off better firepower than SSG (5), but he poured out 14 left bases as no decisive shot came out.
Coach Yeom regretted, saying, “SSG is the winning team last year and it is a team that has to fight again this year, so it was a (meaningful) game for me.”