From the exhibition game, he wrote down the ball combination according to the pitch, location, and ball count of the pitchers who consistently face him. When he stood at bat, he asked for help from an interpreter and accumulated data carefully written by the interpreter. The secret to LG’s foreign hitter Austin Dean (30)’s success lies in the “red note.”
Finally, the cruel history of LG’s foreign batters has ended. LG had no success other than Luis Jimenez in 2016 and Roberto Ramos in 2020, when all teams recruited foreign hitters. Especially the last two years have been close to a nightmare. Even the replacement card failed during the season.
Ramos, who hit the club’s most 38 home runs in a season in 2020, dropped out due to an injury in 2021. He brought in Justin Bohr, but Bohr batted only 0.170. In 2022, I expected Rio Ruiz, who can play infield multi-position, but Ruiz also did not show much in offense and defense. Robel Garcia, who released Louise and brought her, was also not steady, with only a strong first impression.
As a result, LG played the postseason for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022. He fought without a cannon in a short-term game where one home run was cooler than ever and suffered an upset for the second consecutive year.
Not this year. Austin, who recognized the curse of foreign hitters from the time he wore the LG uniform, vowed to break the curse with his own hands. He emphasized breaking the curse from the camp and wearing LG uniforms next year, and he shows his commitment on the ground.
LG batting coach Lee Ho-joon said, “Austin has his own paper. Record the pitchers’ pitches, the course when they faced them, and what pitches came by ball count. I did this from the exhibition game. During the exhibition game, when Austin was at bat, the interpreter asked for each ball thrown by the pitcher and recorded it. I was wondering what I was doing, but I kept stacking up the data,” he said, raising his thumb at Austin’s readiness. 스포츠토토
“I’ve seen a lot of foreign hitters so far, but I’ve never seen such a player,” he said. Usually, foreign hitters ask how that pitcher’s speed is and what ball they throw. No matter how good a batter was in the Major League, he has to adapt again when he comes to Korea, but Austin has no choice but to adapt quickly because he accumulates data. It’s amazing,” he said with a smile.
He has a perfect chemistry with coach Lee, who was a master of Guessing when he was active. Coach Lee said, “We communicate well with each other before going to the batter’s box. What I expected and what Austin thought were often right, he said. “At first, I was worried that the timing was late for the fast ball. Now, I’ve adapted to the league, and I’m constantly studying, and I pass the 150km fast ball with a home run,” he said, applauding the reliable fourth batter.
Austin has been batting .314 with 18 home runs and 81 RBIs with an OPS of 0.879 until the 4th. He ranked 5th in the home run category, 2nd in the RBI category, and the highest among first baseman, WAR (winning contribution to substitute players: based on statistics) 4.17. Considering that no first baseman in the league other than Austin exceeds WAR 2.00, first baseman Golden Glove is very likely to win.
And the first baseman Golden Glove award is also in line with LG’s integrated victory in the past. So far, only two players from LG have won the first baseman Golden Glove, Kim Sang-hoon in 1990 and Seo Yong-bin in 1994. When Kim Sang-hoon and Seo Yong-bin smiled broadly with golden gloves, their team LG also reached the top.
Carla Welch