Veterans such as Song Eun-beom, Seo Gun-chang, and Lee Chun-woong are leaving LG. On the 25th, LG decided to remove 12 players from the roster, including five pitchers Song Eun-beom Lee Chan-hyuk Kim Tae-hyung (left) Sung Jae-heon Lim Jung-woo, four infielders Seo Geon-chang Jeong Joo-hyun Kim Sung-hyeop Choi Hyun-joon, and three outfielders Lee Ieon-woong Choi Min-chang Lee Chul-min.
Among them, Jeong Ju-hyun announced his intention to retire.
The exclusion of Seo Gun-chang, who was traded to LG in 2021 as a "championship contractor," is shocking. Seo was a precise hitter who became the first player in the KBO to reach 200 hits in 2014 with the Nexen Heroes and won the MVP award, but after coming to LG in a one-for-one trade with Chung in 2021, he fell into a hitting slump.
He was eligible for free agency after the season, but unfortunately, his batting didn't improve last year. His batting average dropped even further to 2.024. He spent more time in the second team due to slumps and injuries. He didn't file another free agent application and chose to become a free agent third baseman.
This year was a good opportunity for him. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop, who worked with him in Nexen, came to LG and they tried to find a breakthrough together. Yeom gave Seo a chance to make a comeback at the beginning of the season by giving him the second base spot. Seo raised expectations with a 3-for-6, 2 RBI performance in the exhibition games.
In the month of April, he batted just 2-for-2 (18 hits in 81 at-bats). He also made some ridiculous errors, which made his defense look shaky. He was sent down to the second team on May 19 and didn't return to the first team until September's expansion roster. In the meantime, Shin Min-jae, who had been a pinch-hitter, took over the starting second base position with his outstanding performance. There was no place for Seo in the Korean Series roster. When LG won its first Korean Series title in 29 years, Seo was nowhere to be found.
44 games, 2-for-22 (110 at-bats), 12 RBIs. After hitting 201 hits in a season, Seo only managed 22. When free agency came around again, Seo didn't sign with the team. He'll be back next season, but it won't be at LG. 호텔카지노
Song Eun-beom was also a veteran in the middle of the order, but he wasn't able to share the title this time. After undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his knee during the 2021 season, Song returned last year to post a 1-0 record with two holds and a 4.05 ERA in 25 games. This year, he has appeared in just four games for the first team, posting a 2.45 ERA with no wins or losses. Yoo Young-chan, Baek Seung-hyun, Park Myung-geun, and Ham Deok-ju were called up.
Lee had a good bat in 2018, going 3-for-4 and 3-for-8 in 2019, but after an injury-plagued 2020, he fell out of favor behind Hong Chang-ki and Moon Sung-joo.
Jeong Ju-hyun played 89 games as a backup infielder this season, batting 2-for-7 with 24 hits, one home run and 12 RBIs, and appeared in the Korean Series before deciding to retire.