Twins’ bullpen workhorse believes in power of positive thinking in KBO postseason

Having appeared in all four games of a hard-fought postseason series in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) over the past week, LG Twins right-hander Elieser Hernandez is admittedly "a little tired." But the Venezuelan pitcher believes in the power of positive thinking. LG Twins reliever Elieser Hernandez pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 4 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 9, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins reliever Elieser Hernandez pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 4 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 9, 2024. (Yonhap) "Mentally, I'm good. I'm a little tired but all the trainers work really well," Hernandez told Yonhap News Agency on Friday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, where the Twins were to face the KT Wiz in Game 5 of the first round. The winner of this game will move on to the next round. The Twins can thank Hernandez for taking them this far. He has pieced together 6 1/3 scoreless innings over four games, with nine strikeouts against two walks. He closed out a 6-5 win in Game 3 Tuesday, after the regular closer You Young-chan served up a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth. Hernandez joined the Twins in August as a replacement for starter Casey Kelly. Hernandez made nine starts and two relief appearances in the regular season but has been used exclusively as a reliever in the postseason. Hernandez said the switch in his role is "not difficult if you are positive." "Mentally, if you're negative, you're going to do something negative. If you're positive, you're going to do something positive," Hernandez said. "I always stay positive. That's what I keep doing." While Hernandez has been shoving on the mound, captain and designated hitter Kim Hyun-soo has started swinging the bat better. Kim opened this series batting 0-for-8 but has four hits in his last seven trips to the plate, including a home run in Game 4 on Wedn esday. Kim said he didn't want to put too much stock into his individual performance. As long as the team wins, Kim said it doesn't matter who gets how many hits. LG Twins designated hitter Kim Hyun-soo (R) high-fives teammate Hong Chang-ki in the dugout during Game 4 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 9, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins designated hitter Kim Hyun-soo (R) high-fives teammate Hong Chang-ki in the dugout during Game 4 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 9, 2024. (Yonhap) "I thought I was swinging the bat well from the start of the series, but some of the balls I hit well went right at fielders," Kim said. "Sometimes you can get five bloop singles and it would look good in the box score. And you can hit five line drives right at defenders and people would say you're playing poorly. I am just happy that my teammates are playing well." Kim, 36, is approaching a couple of postseason milestones. He will make his 97th postseason appearance Friday and if the Twins advance to the best-of-five second round, Kim will most likely hit the century mark. It would make him only the third player in KBO history with at least 100 postseason games. Kim is sitting at 93 hits, eight behind former catcher Hong Sung-heon for first place on the all-time list. Asked to comment on potentially playing in his 100th postseason game, Kim said, "I think it means I've had great teammates and great managers." "I obviously can't get into postseason games alone. I've been blessed to have played for so long with such great teammates," Kim said. "And my parents gave me a healthy body, and the managers I've had along the way had enough trust in me to keep putting me in the lineup." As for nearing the century mark in postseason hits, Kim said, "That record would be great but more than anything, I just want to keep winning." Source: Yonha p News Agency