Baseball’s Kiwoom Heroes manager Hong Won-ki talked about his infield plans for the rest of the season.
“Now that Kim Hwi-jip has left, I think for the time being, Lee Jae-sang, Kim Joo-hyung, and Ko Young-woo will take turns at shortstop,” Hong said in an interview before the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League game against SSG Landers at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
On March 30, Kiwoom announced that it had “executed a trade with the NC Dinos for infielder Kim Hwijip in exchange for the first and third round draft picks in the 2025 Rookie Draft.” 안전놀이터 The team received the seventh and 27th overall picks in exchange for Kim, who was highly touted as a big shortstop prospect.
Kim was selected in the second round (9th overall) of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft.
In his rookie year, he batted just 1-for-9 (9-for-70) with one home run, eight RBIs, nine runs scored, one stolen base, and a .465 OPS in 34 games, but has been given more opportunities at first base every year since. In 308 KBO games (950 at-bats, 216 hits) with 22 home runs, 120 RBIs, 119 runs scored, and a .669 OPS, Ki has shown promise, including representing his country in the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) last year, but he has yet to make an impact in the league.
Kim Joo-hyung, who has been playing for Kiwoom since 2019, joined Lee Jae-sang and Go Young-woo as rookies this year. Lee Jae-sang has shown promise, 슬롯 보증 사이트 batting .571 with one home run, three RBIs, three runs scored and an OPS of .571 in 12 games, while Go Young-woo is batting .322 with 13 RBIs, 10 runs scored and an OPS of .760 in 34 games (99-for-32). Go Young-woo will start at first base and Lee Jae-sang will bat ninth.
Manager Hong Won-ki said, “Go Young-woo is comfortable at shortstop, but he thinks his best fit is at third base. He hasn’t come from the amateur league to the professional league yet, so there are still some gaps in his physical fitness. When he plays back-to-back games, his swing speed definitely decreases. I see his main position as third base, and I think he should start rotating with Song Sung-moon and gradually increase the frequency.”
“Lee Jae-sang has been focusing on shortstop since last year’s final camp,”
“Lee Jae-sang has been focusing on shortstop since last year’s final camp,” said manager Hong Won-ki. “He has gained experience at shortstop through spring training and exhibition games this year. Since shortstop is the first priority in the future, I think Lee Jae-sang will play shortstop more and more frequently in the future,” said Hong Won-ki, who hopes that Lee Jae-sang will grow into Kiwoom’s next shortstop.
Right-hander Ko Young-woo and left-hander Song Sung-moon share the third base position. Kiwoom uses both hitters in a platoon-like fashion depending on the opposing starting pitcher. Song is batting .877 with six home runs, 33 RBI, 23 runs scored, one stolen base and an OPS of .877 in 51 games (161-for-51) this season. He will start the game in the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
“The two players have overlapping positions, but we have to look at the situation. Sometimes Song Sung-moon can play first base because Choi Joo-hwan is not feeling well or is not fit enough, 에볼루션 바카라사이트 and sometimes Go Young-woo and Song Sung-moon can play at the same time, like today. I think there will be a lot of changes depending on the opposing pitcher and the physical condition of each player.”