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LG Twins slugger Austin Dean out with stiff neck

Published: 17 Apr. 2025, 17:40

LG Twins outfielder Austin Dean celebrates during a KBO game against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on March 25. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins and their firewagon offense will be without one of their biggest weapons Thursday, as first baseman Austin Dean hit the sidelines with a stiff neck.

Manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Dean won't be available to pinch hit in the third game of a three-game series against the reeling Samsung Lions. It will be the first game Dean will miss this year.

The durable player missed just five games in his first KBO season in 2023 and four games last year.

The Twins took the first two games of the series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul and will go for a sweep without Dean, who is tied for the team lead with five home runs in 19 games this season.

"He said he couldn't even turn his neck," Youm told reporters in his pregame scrum. "He was receiving some treatment during last night's game. I told him to take a seat, but he insisted he would stay in. And then, as soon as he showed up today, he said he was hurting."

Dean has cooled off a bit after a blazing start. He once homered in four straight games from late March to early April but has not gone deep since April 3.

He is 1-for-12 without an RBI over his past four games.

Asked if the neck issue was to blame for Dean's recent slump, Youm said, "It might have something to do with that."

The Twins routed the Lions 12-2 on Wednesday even with Dean going hitless. They lead the KBO with 124 runs scored, a .283 batting average and an on-base slugging of .809.

Youm said he is particularly pleased with his team's slugging ways. Their slugging percentage sits at a league-high .428, some 50 points above the league average.

In 2024, the league average in slugging percentage was .420, and the Twins ranked eighth with .414. So far this season, only three teams are slugging at a clip above .400.

"We worked really hard over the offseason to change our approach at the plate," Youm said. "We want guys to be aggressive early in the count. If they get to two strikes, we want them to be able to make contact and put the ball in play, and not just strike out. Getting all those extra-base hits is making life easy for us."

Yonhap