Will Austin, James Dean, the key to winning LG, finally explode?
LG Twins’ new foreign hitter, Austin, is one of the batters LG fans are looking forward to this season. LG has not had fun with foreign batters lately. Justin Bohr, Rio Ruiz, and Mabel Garcia, as well as Abraham Almonte, were contracted before Austin, but there was a problem during the medical test and the contract was not signed.
Austin, a right-hander with American nationality안전놀이터, debuted in the major leagues in 2018 and recorded a batting average of 0.228, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.676 in 126 games over five seasons. He also appeared in 289 career AAA games, posting a batting average of .301 with 45 home runs and 174 RBIs for an OPS of 0.883. Last season, he batted .286 with 105 hits, 17 home runs and 55 RBIs for Triple-A Sacramento, a San Francisco affiliate.
Austin has been digesting the exhibition game schedule since the Samsung Lions match on the 15th. He was resting and adjusting his condition because his side was not in perfect condition before.
Austin’s record before the game against kt wiz held at Suwon kt wiz park on the 23rd was disappointing. All he had was 3 hits and 2 walks in 17 at-bats. He has a batting average of 0.176. There were no long hits, RBIs, or runs scored.
Of course, even during the exhibition games to prepare for the regular season, LG fans who haven’t had the fun of hitting outsiders recently can be anxious. Austin is getting better.
In the match against kt wiz, Austin started as the third hitter and starting right fielder. He struck out the previous two at-bats, but he showed what he wanted in his third at-bat. He hit a cool two-run timely hit on second and third base with no runners in the fifth inning and went out. Then, while the opposing fielders kept runners in check, he made an active base play and reached second base. During the opponent’s wildfire, he stepped on the home plate.
In the 5th inning, he recorded all of his first long hits, RBIs, and runs on his Korean stage.
And he got the long-awaited home run in the 7th inning. In the 7th inning, with no one out runners, Kim Min’s 148km fastball was pulled and passed over the left fence. The long-awaited first home run in Korea.
On this day, Austin made a big success with 2 hits in 5 at-bats (1 home run), 3 RBIs and 2 runs, adding strength to the team’s 6-2 victory.
Is the key to LG’s victory finally unlocked? I look forward to seeing how scary tomorrow will be again.
After the game, coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop also said, “I think I will be able to hold the center in the lineup this season.”