Key pitcher’s status up in air for KBO postseason elimination game

LG Twins reliever Elieser Hernandez is technically available on Saturday for his team's elimination game in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason, but whether he will actually pitch appeared to be another matter. Hernandez, a starter during the regular season, has transformed into a shutdown reliever so this postseason. He appeared in all five games of the previous series against the KT Wiz, piecing together 7 1/3 shutout innings and striking out 10. In the second round against the Samsung Lions, Hernandez made his first appearance in Game 3 on Thursday, and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings to lock down a 1-0 win. Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said afterward he wouldn't use Hernandez for Game 4, even if the game would be rained out and postponed by a day. The fourth game did get pushed back to Saturday due to inclement weather, but Youm maintained that he would give Hernandez another day off. Before a postseason game, each team must place two players on its inactive list. Hernandez was not on it f or Saturday's game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, leading to speculation the Venezuelan pitcher could come in a pinch trying to save the Twins' season. They trail the best-of-five series 2-1. When asked if he could pitch Saturday, Hernandez was noncommittal, saying, "I don't know. I cannot respond to that." After his usual pregame practice, Hernandez spent over an hour receiving treatment on his right arm. "I just feel a little tired but mentally, I'm prepared for everything," Hernandez said. When asked if he had done anything specific to recover from his latest outing, Hernandez said, "We did everything. I am on a normal routine." In his pregame presser Saturday, Youm said left-hander Son Ju-young will play Hernandez's role -- the first pitcher out of the bullpen entrusted with multiple innings. Son threw 93 pitches across 4 1/3 innings in a Game 2 start on Tuesday. "Ideally, we'll have him at the start of a new inning," Youm said. "If he pitches well, we will keep him on as long as we can witho ut any restriction." Source: Yonhap News Agency