Three stolen bases in two games for the Futures. But a hit and an RBI before a stolen base. Another big runner to a good hitter?
I told him to play hard, but he got a hit and an RBI.
Choi Seung-min, the LG Twins’ new center fielder, raised expectations in his LG debut after the trade by playing center field and getting a hit and an RBI in his first at-bat.
Choi, who joined the NC Dinos as a developmental player in 2015, came to LG in a one-for-one trade for pitcher Chae Ji-seon on April 18. As Shin Min-jae, a pinch-hitter, emerged as the main second baseman, Choi was brought in as a speedy pinch-hitter.
Choi worked hard as a pinch-hitter in the second team. He recorded two stolen bases against SSG on the 25th and one on the 27th. He was called up to the first team on the 28th.
In the away game against the Doosan Bears, he was immediately substituted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, when the team was leading 7-2, Choi replaced Lee Joo-hyung in left field and made his first at-bat since joining the team in the top of the ninth inning, and his first at-bat with the first team this season. 꽁머니
With runners on first and second against Doosan’s pitcher Kim Jung-woo, who also came to Doosan from SSG Landers, Choi took a high 129-kilometer changeup on a 2B2S pitch and lined it to right field. Second baseman Oh Ji-hwan came home to score. Choi Seung-min made a meaningful first step in his first at-bat in an LG uniform with a single. After reaching first base, he held up the team’s three-finger sign in the third base dugout and smiled.
It could have been a lot of pressure for him to get his first at-bat in his first first-team game since joining the team, but getting the hit gave him the confidence to be used as a pinch-hitter as well as a defender.
I hadn’t yet seen the quick feet that I had described as my “speed advantage.” In the ninth inning, with the score 8-2, Doosan had runners on first and third base, but he didn’t show any intention of stopping them by pulling the first baseman back. LG also didn’t bat in the ninth inning because they were down by six runs, so Choi Seung-min’s quick feet were saved for another time.
LG brought him in as a late-game pinch-hitter. What more could you ask for in a pinch-hitting role and an unexpected hit? It’s definitely a good start.
