Choi Ji-hoon showed ‘crazy performance’ in both ball and defense, leading his team SSG Landers to victory.
Choi Ji-hoon started as the second hitter and right fielder in an away game against the LG Twins in the 2023 Professional Baseball KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 26th, scoring 4 hits and 1 point in 5 at-bats.
Choi Ji-hoon, who made his professional debut at SK Wyverns, the predecessor of SSG in 2020, is an outfielder with a batting average of 0.277, 16 home runs, 133 RBIs and 75 stolen bases in 407 total games until last year. In March, he played an active part as a member of the Korean national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), and this season, he recorded a batting average of 0.329, 5 RBIs and 2 steals before this game, playing the role of SSG’s assault leader well.
Choi Ji-Hoon’s bat turned fiercely in this game as well. After one out in the first inning, with no runners, he received five pitches from opposing starting pitcher Kim Yun-sik and produced a left-handed hit. In the beginning of the 3rd inning, he also hit a left-handed hit with no runners on the first run, but both times he failed to hit the home base due to a follow-up hit.
Choi Ji-hoon brushed off his regret of not scoring in the top of the 5th inning. He scored a left-handed hit from second base unscathed, continuing his chances at first and third base unharmed. Then, after settling on second base with the best walk, he homered on Guillermo Heredia’s two RBIs in a timely manner.
Afterwards, Choi Ji-hoon,ㅋㅋㅋ벳 who scored a heavy hit in the top of the 6th inning even without a runner on the 2nd, showed his presence in the defense at the end of the 8th inning. With the team narrowly leading 5-3, Park Hae-min, the lead hitter, sprinted and caught a long hit in the middle right. Considering that Park Hae-min was the representative of the league and Hong Chang-ki, the follow-up hitter, immediately hit a double through left-center, it was literally a defense like ‘thousand gold’.
As such, Choi Ji-hoon literally dominated the game that day. SSG, with Choi Ji-hoon’s performance at the forefront, beat LG 5-4 and recorded 13 wins and 7 losses, regaining the lead lost to LG (14 wins, 8 losses) in one day.