Seoul: The LG Twins received some bad news on the injury front even before their South Korean baseball title defense began Saturday, with starting pitcher Son Ju-young sidelined with an oblique injury. Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Son had suffered a small tear in his right oblique and will be out until late April.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Son had earlier recovered from an elbow injury that limited him to one inning against Australia at the World Baseball Classic on March 9. The left-hander made his lone preseason appearance Tuesday but was roughed up for five hits and three runs in only 1 2/3 innings against the Kiwoom Heroes. Son then experienced some discomfort on his side after playing catch the following day.
"It's a very tiny tear, but it's still a tear. So he has to be kept off the mound for two weeks," Youm told reporters at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, where the Twins were to host the KT Wiz to begin the 2026 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. "Hopefully, he won't need too much time to recover."
Youm had designs on running a six-man rotation to begin the season, with Yonny Chirinos, Im Chan-kyu, Anders Tolhurst, Song Seung-ki, Lachlan Wells, and Son. Wells, the club's Asian quota acquisition who hails from Australia, would have been the versatile swingman asked to eat up multiple innings out of the bullpen. During Son's absence, though, Wells will remain in the rotation, Youm said.
On another injury note, Youm mentioned that infielder Moon Bo-gyeong will be limited to designated-hitting duties in the early going. Moon, who can play both third base and first base, injured his back while trying to catch a foul ball at the fence during the WBC earlier this month.