Kim Tae-hyung’s Lotte registered their first win in a long time. In the process, Choi Hang (30), who had been somewhat relegated to the back of the infield competition, became a “pot of gold” and led the team to victory.
Lotte came from behind to win 3-1 in its regular-season home opener against the NC Dinos at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Sept. 29. It was Lotte’s first win after four straight losses to open the season. It was also an important first win for manager Kim Tae-hyung, who is in his first season at the helm of Lotte this year.
The first win was followed by a vicious cycle of hardship. They dropped the opening two games against SSG in Incheon on March 23-24 and the second game against KIA in Gwangju on March 26-27. We lost close games by one or two points, and we also gave up runs in vain due to a lack of defensive focus. The overall pace of the batting lineup also dropped. The team was playing lethargically without any chance to recover its pace.
Ahead of the match on the 29th,
Coach Kim Tae-hyung said, “We started falling off at the end of the Test match and have been falling off ever since. Now, if one or two of the batsmen can hit a little bit and create a synergy and hit together, it’s fine, but if they can’t hit in front, they will have a lot of pressure behind them.” “I think we have to wait until they hit a little bit,” 안전놀이터 he said. We have to trust our batsmen,” he said, and laughed.
Han Dong-hee, a big hitter who could have provided a little more weight to the batting lineup, is also out with an adductor muscle injury. Coach Kim Tae-hyung’s plan to utilize Han Dong-hee as much as possible for two months was completely thwarted as he was virtually guaranteed to join the team in June. “I was confident that he would join the team and he should have played a good role in the center of the batting order until June, but because of the injury, he was unfortunate and I was unfortunate,” Kim said, explaining, “There is a difference between having him and not having him.”
Ahn Chi-hong also became a free agent last year and moved to Hanwha,
Leaving the second base position vacant and the third base position open. The infield has been experimenting to fill their absence. Although the base of players has been expanded, there is no one player who can be called a starter, so various players are used according to their compatibility with opposing pitchers.
Choi Hang-hang has been one of the last players to be competed for and experimented with. Choi, a former SSG player, was selected by Lotte in the second round of last year’s draft. Lotte had already selected Hanwha’s Oh Sun-jin in the second round of the second draft. Lotte added Choi Hang to the mix.
With the third pick in the second round,
Choi made his first career move. He had been in the shadows as the younger brother of Choi Jeong-jeong, the “Home Run King” who was on his way to breaking the all-time home run record, and now he had to step out of the shadows and make a name for himself.
If Han Dong-hee had stayed injury-free, Choi’s spot might not have been there. Noh Jin-hyuk, Park Seung-wook, Kim Min-sung, and others were competitive in defense, and Choi didn’t have a comparative advantage in batting. However, Choi worked hard and tried to make a name for himself in the limited opportunities he had. As a result, he made the opening roster and led the team to its first win.
Choi’s time in the 29th game was in the sixth inning. Choi started at second base in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jeon Jun-woo tied the game at 1-1 with a solo home run, Noh Jin-hyuk drew a walk, and Jeong Hoon made a head-first sliding catch at shortstop to put runners on second and third. Choi then returned to the plate. At the current pace of the team’s bats, it could have been a chance that would not come again.
NC brought in left-handed pitcher Lim Jung-ho to face Choi Hang.
Lotte had a right-handed infielder in Kim Min-sung as a pinch-hitter, but they stuck with Choi. It was a gutsy move by manager Kim Tae-hyung. Lim is the type of pitcher that lefties struggle with the most. But Choi was no stranger to him, and he took an outside slider and smashed it into left-center field for a single. Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, “Choi’s batting average against lefties was good. And we didn’t have any other cards other than Choi Hang,” Kim explained. The score was 2-1, and then Yoo Kang-nam sprinted home from third base to complete the 3-1 victory.The price tag for players drafted in the third round of the second draft, like Choi Hang, is set at 200 million won. 카지노사이트 추천 His salary this year is just 31 million won. However, Choi’s current performance is like Altoran. His hitting is solid and his defense, which was considered a weakness, is not bad. Choi has turned into a pot belly and is now a player who can lubricate the squad.
After the game, Choi said, “I thought I would continue to do what I had prepared for before the game. I didn’t want to be shaken by the result, and I think what I had prepared with the coaches during the camp led to today’s performance.” “I’m happier than ever to be able to contribute to the team’s first win. We are playing with the mindset of winning unconditionally, so please give us a lot of support this season.”
Choi Hang has stepped out of the shadow of his older brother, Choi Jung, and is quietly making his presence felt. And he is preparing for a successful second round draft.