LG Twins’ ace Adam Plutko was replaced for player protection.
Plutko started on the 26th in the 안전놀이터 face-to-face match against the NC Dinos in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at NC Park in Changwon.
Plutko was in crisis every inning. At the end of the first inning, lead batter Son Ah-seop got a hit and caught Park Min-woo and Park Gun-woo with a fly ball and strikeout, respectively. However, he allowed Martin to walk. Kwon Hee-dong was struck out in the 2nd 1st and 2nd base crisis.
Plutko started the second inning by catching Do Tae-hoon with a floating ball in left field, but was hit by a double by Seo Ho-cheol. However, he treated Kim Joo-won and Ahn Joong-yeol as floating balls. He also put runners out in scoring position in the bottom of the third. Leading batter Son Ah-seop got a hit. Park Min-woo’s sacrifice bunt made it 1 out and 2 base. Park Gun-woo took a breather when Son Ah-seop failed to steal the base at bat, but Park Gun-woo walked and Martin hit and went out, putting the first and second bases in danger. However, he struck out against Kwon Hee-dong.
Plutko faced the biggest crisis of the day in the bottom of the 4th inning. He was hit consecutively by Do Tae-hoon and Seo Ho-cheol. He gave up a walk to Kim Joo-won and was in danger of being loaded safely. However, he induced Ahn Joong-yeol to hit the shortstop grounder. There was a double play from shortstop to second baseman to first baseman. In the meantime, Do Tae-hun came into the home. However, Son Ah-seop was treated as a first baseman grounder, and the bases were loaded safely with the minimum run.
It was expected that Plutko would come on the mound in the 5th inning, but Yoo Young-chan took the mound. An LG official said, “Plutko felt uncomfortable with the left adductor muscle. He was replaced to protect the player.”
On this day, Plutko finished the game with 4 innings, 1 run (1 earned run), 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. He threw a total of 80 pitches, a mix of slider (30 pitches), four-seam fastball (24 pitches), cutter (14 pitches), curveball (7 pitches), and changeup (5 pitches). His top speed was 148 km/h.
Plutko appeared in 20 games before the game and played the role of LG’s ace with 11 wins, 3 losses, 119⅓ innings, 36 runs (32 ERA) and an average ERA of 2.41. If this injury leads to a major injury, it could be a big blow for LG. It’s a situation where you have to hope it’s not a big injury.