The Samsung Lions have been road warriors in Korean baseball this season, for reasons their manager Park Jin-man thinks are based on the team’s youth.
The Lions have the best road record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 16-6-1 (wins-losses-ties). But they have the fewest wins at home, in the southeastern city of Daegu, with a 7-11 win-loss record.
At 23-17-1, the Lions are tied for second place in the 10-team league, and they will try to improve on that road record Tuesday evening, when they visit the SSG Landers in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
When asked about the big home-road splits, Park attributed it to the pressure his young players must be feeling in front of the home crowd.
“We have a bunch of young position players. They will never admit to this, but I think they all feel pressure to play well at home,” Park told 커뮤니티 reporters at Incheon SSG Landers Field. “I think they will get better in that aspect as they gain more experience. Hopefully, we’ll start winning a few more games at home, too.”
Leading that youth movement for the Lions has been third baseman Kim Young-woong. Still only 20, Kim leads the Lions with nine home runs and a .542 slugging percentage, and sits in second place with 26 RBIs.
