Kiwoom Heroes’ Lee Ju-hyung 22 suffered the humiliation of striking out his former at-bat in the lead-off position for the first time since the transfer. 토토사이트 However, he struck out five times, which is rare in Kiwoom.
Lee Joo-hyung started as the first and right fielder against the Lotte Giants in Gocheok, Seoul on the 9th and recorded no hits and five strikeouts in five at-bats. Kiwoom lost 1-3 to Lotte due to the rarely exploded batters and fielders’ error parade, the team’s record of most consecutive losses and nine consecutive tie-ins.
It was Lee Ju-hyung’s first lead-off appearance since he moved from the LG Twins to Kiwoom with Kim Dong-kyu 19 and the nomination rights in the first round of the 2024 Rookie Draft on the 29th of last month. Before the game, Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki said, I’m currently hitting the best among our hitters. So I thought going into the batter’s box at least once was a good way to score, he said.
The results alone were disappointing. The opposing starting pitcher is left-hander Charlie Barnes 28. After Brooks Raley 35, New York Mets, he was called the KBO League’s new left-hander new word for left-handed batter’s underdog and was very strong against left-handed hitters with a batting average of 0.234 and a POPS of 0.596 before the game.
Lee Ju-hyung was helpless to such Barnes. After watching one fastball in the first showdown in the bottom of the first inning, he swung two sliders that fell to the bottom of the outside and struck out three pitches. The same was true of the two other matches in the third and fifth innings. He touched his first slider in the third inning, but it ended up with a foul and just watched the outside full fastball. Then, he missed a slider that fell wide outside and struck out three pitches again.
In the fifth inning, he watched the outer slider once and picked out the ball, but he swung his bat a little inward on the slider and struck out swinging. Since then, in the two at-bats, the pitchers were different from Koo Seung-min in the seventh inning and Kim Won-joong in the ninth inning, respectively, but they seemed to be weak against the ball falling outside. It was the first time in 41 games since his debut in the first division in 2021.
Lee Joo-hyung showed a hot batting sense with a batting average of 0.367 11 hits in 30 at-bats after the transfer, but it was not an unexpected result. Barnes was also a difficult opponent with a career batting average of 0.200 (4 hits in 20 at-bats), and it was no wonder that his batting balance was disrupted.
Rather, it is noticeable that he made nine swings on 17 balls at five at-bats. I’ve never had a character like this in Kiwoom. According to Statistics, Kiwoom is one of the least active bat teams with 44.4% 8th in the league). Among the total strikeouts, the ratio of rookie strikeouts reached 25.1% 2nd in the league, and the cut rate after two strikes was 73.7% 9th in the league, which many batters watched even in the strikeout crisis. The walk rate is 8.8%, ranking ninth in the league, to say that the pioneer is good. Taken together, there were many cases where they were passive in playing against pitchers, and there were many cases that were unfair in the referee’s decision.
However, Lee Ju-hyung swung the bat without hesitation even though the opponent’s battery persistently threw the ball to his weakness, the low outside. It was an impossible swing without confidence in his own strike zone and swing. A confident swing sometimes leads to good results. The match against the Changwon NC Dinos on the 6th was like that. NC, where right-hander Song Myung-ki took the mound, persistently aimed at the bottom of the body against left-handed hitter Lee Ju-hyung. It was the same in the third inning, and the 141km/h throw, which came in about one ball from the previous two pitches, hit the bottom of the stands of Changwon NC Park at a rapid pace. Many fans thought of Lee Jung-hoo due to Lee Joo-hyung’s lightning swing from fast bat speed.
In the early days of the transfer, Lee Ju-hyung is expected by Kiwoom fans as one of the pillars of the post Lee Jung-hoo era with a play reminiscent of Lee Jung-hoo’s rookie days. As the same left-handed hitter, he is a hot hitter with fast feet, bat speed, and line-drive batting that sends anywhere in the outfield, moving his position from infield to the outfield, and showing a similar move to Barnes’ weak history.
Analysts say that there is enough potential to lead the Kiwoom outfield in the future. Lee Ju-hyung, who joined LG as the 13th overall player in the second round of the 2020 rookie draft after graduating from Kyungnam High School, was known as a batter that has already been verified at the Futures League level. In the first division, he had only 35 at-bats before the trade, but in the Futures League, he had a .335 batting average, 11 home runs, 63 RBIs, 76 runs, 21 steals, and a 0.454 slugging percentage of 0.561. Kiwoom general manager Ko Hyung-wook also said after the trade, Lee Joo-hyung is a player who was well-received within us, but he was also very well-received in LG. I thought I would be able to unleash my full potential if I gave him a chance, he said, adding, Lee Joo-hyung’s success was highly regarded.
All it takes is experience. Lee Ju-hyung’s designated hitter against Changwon NC on the 6th and his leadoff appearance on the day were all part of fostering Lee Ju-hyung. Head coach Hong Won-ki said, I have no full-time experience, so if I want to continue to do well, I have to learn how to control my condition and physical strength in the game on my own, adding, It is really important for individual players to catch an opportunity like this. It could be an opportunity to change his career, he said, expecting growth.
