Seoul: The LG Twins replaced their struggling starter Yonny Chirinos with a new pitcher, Yacksel Rios, last week, but manager Youm Kyoung-youb plans to put the Puerto Rican hurler in the bullpen rather than the starting rotation.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Rios barely has starting experience in the upper minors or in the majors. Furthermore, the Twins could benefit from his hard-throwing capabilities in a bullpen that mostly consists of pitchers who rely on guile rather than velocity.

Rios was added to the roster before Wednesday's game against the SSG Landers at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Youm stated that the new pitcher will be ready to contribute immediately. "He looked good," Youm commented on Rios' recent bullpen sessions during his pregame media availability. "We will use him in high-leverage situations. He will also be the first guy out of the bullpen to eat up innings when our starter gets knocked around early."

Otherwise, Rios is expected to serve as the setup man in front of starter-turned-closer Son Ju-young. "Those two will be the important pieces for our bullpen going forward," Youm added. "Rios, in particular, will be a core member of the bullpen. We're not going to run him into the ground and send him out there for three straight games. We want to make sure he's healthy for the postseason as well."

According to Baseball Savant website, Rios averaged 98.1 miles per hour (mph) with his four-seam fastball in his one big league outing with the Chicago Cubs this year. He threw his sinkers even harder, with an average velocity of 98.5 mph. If he can maintain that level of performance, he will instantly become the fastest pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization this year.

Despite some pitching challenges that have placed them in the middle of the pack in major categories, the Twins still find themselves in first place with a 37-23-0 (wins-losses-ties) record. "I can breathe a little easier now. I feel like we survived May the best we could," said Youm, whose team had the league's third-best record in May at 16-10-0. "But we still have our issues. At least the bats have come alive compared with April or May. And every team in the KBO has some sort of problems anyway."