NC Dinos right-hander Young-gun Lee Yong-jun is currently suffering from growing pains.
Lee Yong-jun, who made his professional debut in 2021 and did not win a win until last year, showed an impressive appearance at the beginning of this year. He showed off his presence by settling in the starting lineup with consecutive good pitches. His earned run average for April was only 1.14, and his performance during this period was 2 wins and no losses. Thanks to his performance, NC was able to survive the mid-table battle.안전놀이터
However, Lee Yong-jun suffered from growing pains in May. From the beginning, there were a lot of battered appearances, and games that digest long innings rapidly decreased. His ERA for May was 5.51.
Even in June, he failed to rebound. He started 4 times, but the only time he played more than 5 innings was against the Daegu Samsung Lions on June 7, when he reported his 3rd win of the season (5 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, no runs).
Initially, NC coach Kang In-kwon tried to give Lee Yong-joon time to reorganize by dropping him down to the Futures (second team) league in mid-June. Unfortunately, however, foreign ace Eric Peddy left the team on June 14 due to a sprained right forearm, and he continued to rotate in the starting rotation.
And Lee Yong-jun stood on the mound as a starting pitcher in an away game against the Doosan Futures team held at Icheon Bears Park on the 2nd. He started badly. In the bottom of the first inning, he led lead batter Kim Tae-geun to a shortstop fly, but Park Joon-young, Song Seung-hwan, and Kim Min-hyuk hit consecutive hits. Park Yoo-yeon then induced the third baseman to ground, but allowed a right-handed hit to the follow-up hitter Kim Moon-soo. He ended the inning with difficulty by blocking Kwon Min-seok with a fly in right field, but it was after he had already contributed 3 runs.
Fortunately, in the bottom of the second inning, Lee Yong-jun found some stability. He calmly increased his outcount against Yun Jun-ho (shortstop grounder), Lim Seo-jun (catcher foul fly), and Kim Tae-geun (strikeout) and made his first tripartite inning that day.
Lee Yong-jun’s fourth run came in the bottom of the third. Leading hitter Park Joon-young allowed a solo arch to go over the left wall. But he didn’t waver. He handled Song Seung-hwan with a second baseman ground ball, and Kim Min-hyeok and Park Yu-yeon drew a fly to left field and a fly to right field, respectively.
The bottom of the 4th inning was clean again. Kim Moon-soo and Kwon Min-seok were tied with a grounder at second base and a grounder at shortstop. He then induced a third baseman grounder to Yoon Jun-ho.
Lee Yong-jun, who was on the mound in the bottom of the 5th inning, finished his mission that day by cooking Lim Seo-joon with a fly to left field, and blocking Kim Tae-geun and Park Jun-yeong with a ground ball to third baseman and a fly to center fielder. The final score was 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 home run, 1 strikeout and 4 runs. The total number of pitches was 57.
It is too early to make a hasty conclusion with only one match, but it was a match in which Lee Yong-jun was able to confirm both the tasks and the achievements. He was hit hard at the beginning of the game, but after that, he dealt with hitters with a wise game. It was encouraging that he went through 5 innings with a small number of pitches of 57 pitches, and it is also positive that he did not give up even a single pitch.
NC is waiting for Lee Yong-jun’s quick rebound. NC, which recently faced the bad news of a line injury in the starting lineup, finished last week with a poor record of 1 win and 4 losses. Ace Peddy, Taylor Widener, and Shin Min-hyuk are struggling, but they are clearly struggling. In this situation, if Lee Yong-jun returns and takes a place in the starting lineup, he can counterattack.
Will Lee Yong-Jun be able to quickly return to the first-team stage after succeeding in reorganization in the Futures League in the future? This is also the news that NC, which is aiming for a rebound, is waiting for the most.