At the beginning of this season, LG Twins right-hander Im Chan-kyu, 31, was assigned a long-relief role. Initially, the rotation consisted of Korean starters Kim Yun-sik, Lee Min-ho, and Kang Hyo-jong. But now, Lim is the nucleus of LG’s starting rotation.스포츠토토 In 11 starts this season, he has a 5-1 record with a 2.85 ERA, including four quality starts (QS – six or more innings pitched with three earned runs or less). He’s the next best thing to the foreign one-two punch of Adam Plutko and Casey Kelly. It’s also encouraging that he’s gone at least five innings in each of his last 10 starts.
That makes the manager’s faith in Lim even greater. Manager Yoon Kyung-yeop, who praised him earlier in the year, said, “What would I have done without (Im),” and before the Changwon NC Dinos game on the 22nd, he said, “I’m going to trust him more in the future, and I’m going to treat him like a domestic ace. Only then will he be able to throw more responsibly,” he said. He continued, “He has to be responsible for 100 pitches. Even if the number of pitches increases, it’s a message that I believe in myself more than the pitching staff.”
Yoon has good reason to believe. Lim has the ability to perfectly combine three pitches: a fastball in the mid-140s, a changeup, and a curveball. Whereas in the past he was somewhat reliant on his fastball, he’s now a pitcher who uses his changeup to take away timing. “He hasn’t changed his technique or his pitching form,” Yeom said, “but he’s definitely recognized as a pitcher who uses his fastball to steal timing.”
Considering the state of LG’s domestic starters, Lim’s performance is even more encouraging. Kim Yun-sik, who is making adjustments with the Futures (second team), has underperformed expectations with a 3-4 record and 5.29 ERA in 11 games. With the starting rotation not returning as expected, Yeom has had his work cut out for him, but long reliever Im Chan-kyu has been performing like a domestic ace.
