KIA Futures Pyeong Jeong-nam is suspicious?
Choi Won-joon (26, managing director), who will return to KIA after being discharged on June 12, is off to a bad start to the season. Choi Won-joon was silent with a total of 7 at-bats against Doosan on the 2nd and 3rd. He is 9-for-43 with a batting average of 0.209, 5 RBI, 8 points and 4 steals in 11 games this season.
He walked 11 times, but struck out a whopping 13 times. Elaborate hitting is the biggest strength, but this season is not easy. OPS is also not good at 0.626. Last year, in 92 games, batting average of 0.382, 6 homers, 73 RBIs, 90 points, OPS 1.011, it was 180 degrees different from becoming the ‘Pyeongjeongnam of Futures’.
Choi Won-joon’s discharge from the military is only one month away. In any case, KIA considers Choi Won-joon an immediate sense of power. To return and make a soft landing in the first team, it is important for him to finish in Sangmu with a good sense of hitting and good condition. Since he has one month, he has plenty of room to recover.
However, it is difficult to say that even if Choi Won-jun returns, a spot in the outfield of the KIA 1st team can be guaranteed unconditionally. Recently, the KIA outfield has been quite hot. A special star named Na Seong-beom is missing, but the gums perform more than expected.
Socrates Brito has a batting average of 0.299 in the last 10 games, including a batting average of 0.333, 2 home runs and 15 RBIs. The feeling of hitting has gone up quite a bit lately. Here, Ko Jong-wook and Lee Woo-sung, who are placed in both corners, are more than expected. Koh Jong-wook had a batting average of 0.360 with 3 RBIs and 9 runs in 21 games, OPS of 0.816, and Lee Woo-sung had a batting average of 0.357 in 16 games with 2 homers, 5 RBIs and 5 runs in OPS of 1.022.
메이저놀이터 In the meantime, the two have mainly played as backups. Pinch and big defense were the main tasks. He was also appointed as a platoon for a spot in the outfield. However, Ko Jong-wook has been appointed as the main table setter for some time. It is no longer the second Lee Jae-joo. Lee Woo-sung went out as a pinch hitter against LG and hit a solo shot to tie the score, and continued to show productivity even in irregular opportunities.
Finally, on the 3rd, the two started together, beating Lee Chang-jin, who had recently lost a sense of hitting, in the Lotte game in Gwangju on the 3rd. Koh Jong-wook went to left field and Lee Woo-seong went to right field and then moved to left field. To be honest, Ko Jong-wook is on the weak side of defense, but seeing that he has been consistently used as a left fielder lately, it’s not that bad. Contrary to his image, Lee Woo-sung (?) has very good defensive skills. On July 9, 2022, he also made a super catch that confirmed the victory of the Gwangju Hanwha Games team. The batting was also excellent with 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 3 runs, including a home run, against Lotte that day.
Lee Chang-jin is also slowing down recently, but it’s not bad when you look at the season as a whole. If Koh Jong-wook and Lee Woo-seong continue to do so, Choi Won-joon cannot be guaranteed a starter even if he returns in June. If Choi Won-joon doesn’t feel as good as recently after being discharged, and Ko Jong-wook, Lee Woo-sung, and Lee Chang-jin are good, then coach Kim Jong-guk will have to worry.
Anyway, it is encouraging that when Choi Won-joon returns, the number of resources to be placed in the left and right corners centered on Socrates increases. When Choi Won-joon returns, there is a high possibility that Na Seong-beom will also try to come back. Maybe someone unfairly reduces the playing time. Looking at the current point of view, even if Choi Won-joon returns, it is not an atmosphere to be guaranteed a starter. That’s why the recent moves of Ko Jong-wook and Lee Woo-sung are impressive.