LG Twins’ outfield line is expected to change in the 2023 season.
New head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop intends to use outfield resources to play in the rotation by using the designated hitter position. Moreover, if a foreign hitter is recruited as an outfielder, the outfield composition and business trips become more complicated. Hong Chang-ki, who won the on-base title last year, is expected to undergo the most changes.
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “If we recruit a foreign hitter as an outfielder, we plan to appoint him as a right fielder.” LG plans to recruit the ‘best hitter’ regardless of position. Most likely to be an outfielder. There are many outfielders in the current candidate pool.
Hong Chang-ki, who was LG’s right fielder for the past three years, including this year, will move to left field. Manager Yeom said, “A right fielder must have a strong shoulder. (During a single hit), there is a big difference in whether or not a runner on first base advances to third base,” he said. “I plan to use Hong Chang-ki as a left fielder.”
In left field, there is Kim Hyun-soo, the team’s center hitter. Director Yeom said, “Kim Hyun-soo alternates between left fielder and designated hitter. He doesn’t play first base,” he explained. When Kim Hyun-soo plays as the designated hitter, Hong Chang-ki will play left fielder.
Kim Hyun-soo will play as a left fielder and designated hitter this year. He appeared in 96 games as a left fielder and 45 as a designated hitter.
In left field, Kim Hyun-soo pitched 802.1 innings, Lee Jae-won 204.2 innings, Moon Seong-joo 213 innings, and Hong Chang-ki 25.2 innings. When Kim Hyeon-soo played as a designated hitter this year, Lee Jae-won and Moon Seong-joo, who played left field, will play 400 innings for Hong Chang-ki next year.
In the 2022 season, LG’s outfield team was mainly played by Kim Hyun-soo, Park Hae-min, and Hong Chang-ki (Moon Seong-ju), and in the 2023 outfield, Kim Hyun-soo (Hong Chang-ki), Park Hae-min, and foreign hitter (Moon Seong-ju) are expected to be the main ones. Hong Chang-ki, who ranks second in the outfield position, and Moon Seong-ju, ranks first in the designated hitter. 토토사이트
The overall picture is that Hong Chang-ki, Moon Seong-joo, Kim Hyun-soo, and foreign hitters take turns playing in the designated hitter position to arrange the physical strength of the main players.
Hong Chang-ki’s next season is important. Hong Chang-ki, who occupied a spot in the outfield while playing full-time in the first team for the first time in 2020, played in 144 games in the 2021 season and played a big role with a batting average of 3.2 8 leagues, 172 hits, 103 points, 52 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of .456. He finished fourth in batting and won the title in on-base percentage. 109 walks were the first in the league, and it was the first three-digit walk as an LG hitter.
However, this year, Hong Chang-ki’s unique ‘snow baseball’ did not see the light of day due to the expansion (normalization) of the strike zone in the KBO. As his own S zone, which was elaborately set up until last year, differed from the expanded S zone, the number of strikeouts by Hong Chang-ki increased and the number of walks decreased. There were frequent scenes in which Hong Chang-ki expressed dissatisfaction with the referee’s decision and protested.
In addition, there was a bad news that he had to leave for about a month due to an oblique muscle injury in mid-June. He was decent in the first half with a batting average of 3.1 5 Lee in 64 games, but his performance was lackluster in the second half after returning from injury with a batting average of 2.4 6 Lee in 54 games.
His batting average for the season was 2.8 and 6.0, down about 4 from last year. His on-base percentage was .390, down more than six pennies from last year. Still, it was 5th in the league. Director Yeom said, “You shouldn’t have ups and downs in your grades. Every year, the grades have to go up,” he said, looking forward to Hong Chang-ki’s rebound next year.