“Even if I can’t hit, I can go to the plate without any burden because my brothers and seniors hit.” 안전놀이터

Kim Min-seok (19, Lotte Giants) started as the first hitter in the center field in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ against kt Wiz held at kt Wiz Park on the 14th.

At the beginning of the game, Kim Min-seok went on base with a hit and pierced the bow. At the beginning of the first inning, he attacked the curve of the opponent’s selection exclusion and scored a heavy hit. Afterwards, after going to second base on Han Dong-hee’s heavy hit, he also succeeded in scoring when Jack Rex’s 1st RBI hit was timely.

If he produced a scoring route by going on base, this time he stepped out as a solver himself. At the beginning of the 4th inning, when the team was leading 3-0, he attacked a four-seam fastball with 2 outs, 1st and 3rd bases, and hit a timely RBI with a missed hit.

The final score was 5 at-bats, 2 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run. He led his team to an 8-3 victory, scoring direct goals and scoring RBIs.

Kim Min-seok is a rookie in a Lotte uniform with the 3rd overall pick in the 1st round of the 2023 KBO League Rookie Draft. From the first year of his debut, he has been highly anticipated, joining the opening roster of the first team. At the beginning of the season, he was in charge of back-up, such as a large runner and large defense, but after outfielder Hwang Seong-bin (26) was injured due to an injury, he is playing his part as a new engine for Lotte’s offense.

From the match against Sajik Kiwoom Heroes on the 28th of last month to the match against Sajik Doosan Bears on the 9th, he energized the offense with a batting average of 0.474 (9 hits in 19 at-bats) and 3 RBIs in the last 5 games. However, it has suffered from ups and downs since then. Prior to this day, he went 0-for-10 and was silent for four consecutive games. He was shaken for a moment, but he regained his senses and fired a flare of revival by hitting multi-hits that day.

After the game, Kim Min-seok said, “The team keeps winning, so even if I can’t hit, my brothers and seniors hit, so I can go to bat without any burden. It’s thanks to you for making me feel comfortable.”

He added, “In the first at-bat, the timing for lifting my legs kept getting wrong, so I took an approach to cut it short. I was able to cope with the breaking ball. I think luck helped me in the second at-bat.”

Meanwhile, Lotte completed two winning series against Doosan and kt this week, ending the week with a ‘+2’ margin. The season record is 19-11, fiercely chasing the leader SSG Landers.