Samsung Lions face setback without Koo Ja-wook

[Anchor]

In the professional baseball playoffs, Samsung Lions, which has already secured two wins, is facing a significant setback with the injury of their star player, Koo Ja-wook.

Ahead of the third game at Jamsil tomorrow, reporter Moon Young-kyu examines the variables in the playoffs.

[Report]

Koo Ja-wook suffered a left knee injury while attempting to steal a base in the second game, causing great disappointment.

After stepping on home plate with his injured leg, Koo was immediately substituted, and the examination results revealed ligament damage, ruling him out for games three and four.

Koo has departed for Japan for treatment, and his return date remains uncertain.

With a batting average over .340 and 33 home runs this season, Koo's absence is a painful situation for Samsung.

[Park Jin-man/Samsung Manager: "Koo Ja-wook has sustained damage to his knee, so it seems that games three and four will be quite difficult, and I feel heavy-hearted."]

The fact that games three and four will be held at Jamsil, where the number of home runs per game is about half that of Daegu, is also a significant variable.

For example, among the eight home runs hit by Samsung in games one and two, there were balls that would likely have been outs at Jamsil, like Kim Young-woong's home run.

Additionally, LG's starting pitcher Lim Chan-kyu, who will face Samsung's starter Hwang Dong-jae in the third game, has an excellent ability to suppress home runs, allowing only 0.81 home runs per nine innings this season.

Whether LG's "running baseball," which managed only one stolen base in the slugfests of games one and two, can be revived at Jamsil is also a key point.

[Yeom Kyung-yeop/LG Manager: "I believe that if we return home and play our baseball, there will be plenty of opportunities for a turnaround, so we will do our best to perform well again."]

However, since Samsung was able to score heavily even without Koo, the early matchup between Samsung's hot batting lineup and Lim Chan-kyu is expected to determine the outcome of the game.

KBS News, Moon Young-kyu.