Lim Chan-gyu (31, LG Twins), who gave up his free agent (FA) rights last winter, made a splendid flight.
Lim Chan-gyu was announced as an FA qualification player after the 2022 season. A free agency that can receive billions of won under a contract is a professional player’s dream. Moreover, Lim Chan-gyu is a selection resource that says ‘calling is worth it’. However, he delayed exercising his FA rights. Because of his deteriorating performance, he decided that it would be difficult for him to be offered a good contract condition, so he chose ‘lucky’ for one year.
He also did not have a bright outlook for this year. Lim Chan-kyu’s opening day position was the bullpen. He competed with Kang Hyo-jong, Park Myeong-geun, Kim Yu-young and others to start 5 exhibition games, but did not get satisfactory results. Even in the situation where he was very disappointed, he threw the ball silently from the bullpen without showing anything special. If you are intellect, you say Gamcheon. In mid-April, Lim Chan-gyu was put in as a “temporary selection” and showed his skills.
Afterwards, he took off the ‘temporary’ tag and went further to the 3rd starting position, which means a native ace. In the away game against Incheon SSG Landers on the 18th, Lim Chan-gyu added a valuable victory. On this day, Lim Chan-gyu, who faced SSG ace Kim Gwang-hyun as a starter, led the team to an 11-2 victory with 6 hits and 2 runs in 5 innings. Kim Gwang-hyeon (5 runs in 6 2/3 innings), who was shaken by a large number of runs, won by decision and reached 10 wins (2 losses). 7th in the league and the third domestic pitcher to win double-digit wins in the season, following Koh Young-pyo (KT Wiz, 10-5) and Lee Eui-ri (KIA Tigers, 10-6). Lim Chan-gyu was the second LG player after foreign pitcher Adam Plutko.안전놀이터
LG coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop advised Lim Chan-gyu, “You have to erase restraints from your head.” According to Sports 2I, a baseball statistics company, Lim Chan-kyu’s average fastball speed is only 140.7 km/h. Although his speed was below the league average, he dealt with batters with slow pace control. Compared to the previous year, the direct purchase rate (44.9% → 40.4%) was lowered and the changeup rate (24.4% → 31.7%) was increased. In addition, a curve and a slider are mixed to take away the timing of the hit. Lim Chan-gyu, who heard coach Yeom’s advice on redemption, said, “A similar speed comes out anyway, so rather than dwelling on numbers (redemption), I pay more attention to the faster game when there are no runners and the command when there are runners.”
This is the third time Lim Chan-gyu, who debuted in 2011, has achieved double-digit wins in the season, following 2018 (11 wins) and 2020 (10 wins). He had a 5.77 earned run average in 2018 and a 4.08 in 2020. This season, the average ERA in the early-mid range of 3 points has been steadily maintained. Being close to a career high season can be interpreted as meaning that it is more likely to exercise free agency rights.
In the 2024 KBO League FA market, selection resources are expected to remain scarce. Born in 1992, Lim Chan-kyu, who is relatively young, is expected to rise in value. An official from the club said, “It is true that Lim Chan-gyu is interested in his young age and performance.”