LG Twins right-hander Lim Chan-kyu overcame his poor condition and won his first appearance in September.
In the 14th game of this season against the SSG Landers of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Monday, Lim started the game and recorded his ninth win of this season by allowing two hits, no outs and no runs in seven innings. He also set a tie for the most strikeouts in an individual game. The previous record was 10 against the Munhak SK (current SSG) on Oct. 13, 2018.
He pitched 81 pitches, the most with 29 curves for each type of pitch. Fastballs (24 pitches), changeups (19 pitches), and sliders (9 pitches). The maximum speed of fastballs was 142 km/h.
Lim Chan-kyu, who has achieved quality starts (more than six innings as a starter and less than three earned runs) in all three previous games, continued his cruising from the beginning of the game. He struck out Choo Shin-soo, Park Ji-hwan and Guillermo Herredia in the top of the first inning, and Han Yu-sum, Ko Myung-joon and Ha Jae-hoon in the top of the second inning.
In the top of the third inning, Lee Ji-young, the leadoff hitter, made an infield hit, but he did not falter. He struck out Jeong Joon-jae, the follow-up hitter, and saved the number of pitches as he caught both Kim Sung-hyun and Choo Shin-soo with a mistake after just one pitch.
In the top of the fourth inning, Park Ji-hwan, Eredia, and Han Yu-sum drew a fly ball to right field, a fly ball to right field, and a strikeout to strike out, respectively. In the top of the fifth inning, Lee Ji-young received a heavy hit after Ko Myung-joon’s ground ball to the first base and Ha Jae-hoon’s strikeout, but he met the requirements for a winning pitcher by inducing Jung Joon-jae to ground out to the second base.
Lim Chan-gyu, who struck out Kim Sung-hyun, Choo Shin-soo, and Park Ji-hwan all in the top of the sixth inning, took the mound in the top of the seventh inning as well. He finished his duties by hitting out count with a ground ball to the second base, a ground ball to the second base, and a fly ball to the shortstop against the centerline leading to Herredia, Han Yu-sum and Ko Myung-jun.
LG, which was encouraged by Lim Chan-kyu’s good pitching, also widened the gap by accumulating points from the beginning of the game, and won the first game of the two consecutive games by overpowering SSG 5-0.
In fact, in terms of the number of pitches, it seemed that LG would leave the mound to Lim Chan-kyu until the top of the eighth or ninth inning. Then, why was Lim satisfied with his seven-inning pitching even after throwing 81 pitches? The reason was Lim Chan-kyu’s physical condition.
After the game, Lim Chan-kyu said, “Actually, I had enteritis for three days. When I warmed up in the bullpen, I didn’t have any strikes, so I told the coach and was worried for a moment,” adding, “Coach Kim Kwang-sam knew and told me to go until the top of the seventh inning. If I had asked him to throw more, I would have thrown more. I always respect the decision made by the bench because I am not the type to say first. I think that’s why I did that.”
After pitching, he was seen watching the game with foreign pitchers Detrick Ns and Elijah Hernandez. “He said, ‘Why didn’t you throw more?’ and I thought, ‘I actually have enteritis. If I use my strength now, I think I should go to the bathroom. I think I made a joke like this, ‘My uniform is white now.’ ” 메이저사이트
Lim Chan-gyu says that emptying his mind and throwing led to good results. “I think I was in my worst condition this year. Rather, I think it was the most important to just go up without thinking (laughs) as the game against the Jamsil NC Dinos (who were sluggish in two ⅔ innings and seven runs on April 9) was in the best condition. Except for the fact that he shook his head once because he wanted to strike out the 11th player at bat in the top of the seventh inning, I left it to catcher (Park) Dong-won. “I just threw it without thinking,” Lim said. “I think I got a curve when I liked it because the ball didn’t fly well.”
As he was not in good physical condition, he did not forget to thank his teammates for helping him. “I think I matched everything with Dong-won, and I think I also got lucky. (Former) Bon-hyuk’s defense was good, too. I am so grateful that (Shin) Min-jae is out due to injury and that Bon-hyuk is doing his best to defend well,” he said.
He also had a desire to have the most strikeouts in a single game. “In the top of the seventh inning, when players Eredia and Ko Myung-joon were at bat, Dong-won also made curve signings. I made curve signings (from the full count) because I was allowed to give a walk (in the game against Ko Myung-joon),” Lim said. “I didn’t think about recording strikeouts before, but when I thought about ‘Shall I strike out 11?’ I ended up making an in-play hit. I could have just thrown as I did, but that’s a bummer because I thought I might have been a little unconscious. I don’t know when I will get 11 strikeouts. I could do it 20 years later.”
This year, Im Chan-kyu has entered his 14th year as a professional. There were good and bad things, but Lim Chan-kyu has grown to the next level through many experiences. Depending on his condition, or the opponent’s team or situation, he is taking the appropriate ball mix.
“I think I have a good breaking ball (on days when I’m not in good condition). On days when fastballs don’t fly well, I think it was good that the change-up was formed at 125km/h and the curve was 108km/h. On days when the ball is in good condition, the change-up or curve gets faster. Instead, he creates fouls because of his fast speed,” Lim said. “I think I felt that I was taking advantage of my strengths and weaknesses. I think it was good that we had a timing fight by lowering the speed limit to 133-134km/h and then raising it to 139-140km/h. I feel like I’m getting my own color little by little.”
If he adds one more win during the rest of the season, he will be able to secure 10 wins for the second consecutive year following last year (14 wins). “It would be great to have 10 wins. However, I did not think about ‘I will throw seven innings today’ or ‘I will have to strike out 10,’ but rather this is what happened after throwing, so I would be very grateful to have 10 wins, and even if I do not achieve it, I think it is more important to have that goal by constantly playing the regular innings,” he said, stressing his responsibility.