The opening game was more nerve-racking than the 5th place match In his second year as a professional, Chung Geun-woo's successor → 1m65 is a small one
Mar 25, 2025
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SSG Landers rookie second baseman Jung Joon-jae (22) threw his tongue under the pressure he experienced for the first time in his life. He was at first lost in great tension. But after just two games, he got used to it. He won the title of successor to Landers second baseman legend Jung Geun-woo.
Jung Joon-jae is an early draft resource from Dongguk University. He was drafted 50 times overall in the fifth round of the 2024 Rookie Draft. Like a college graduate rookie who is 'immediate power', he hit .307 with 240 at-bats in 88 games in the 2024 season. Through off-season training, he was selected as the main second baseman in the opening game.
Jung Joon-jae's first professional opener was different from what he imagined. Incheon SSG Landers Field was packed with 23,000 won. Jung Joon-jae said, `I was the most nervous baseball player in my life. I was so nervous that I felt like I was floating. He shook his head, saying, "My concentration is also in disarray." He went on to be more nervous than the final round of 5th place. I enjoyed the 5th place match, but it was not easy to enjoy the opening game. " SSG finished the regular league with KT Wiz in fifth place last year. They played the fifth-place match for the last one ticket to the postseason. Jung Joon-jae shot two for four. SSG ended the season with a 3-4 loss.
Perhaps that's why the opening game report was bad. He took a walk at the plate, but made no hits in three at-bats and two errors in defense. The team won the game 6-5, so it would have been even heavier if it had given up the game.
SSG coach Lee Sung-yong continued to support Jung Joon-jae. Jung Joon-jae also played as the starting second baseman in Game 2 of the opening series. Jung Joon-jae has completely changed in one day. In the top of the second inning, he snatched a fastball that seemed to completely escape for 1-2 bases with a nice diving catch. 이날
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Jung Joon-jae said "After the diving catch, I completely relaxed. So I think I kept getting good results. Originally, I was confident in defense, but I was more nervous as I made an error in the opening game. So it also had an impact on the batting. It finally unraveled. "I think we can make a good batting sense in the future."
I waited for the fastball, but it was said to have hit the mark. Jung Joon-jae said, `First of all, I'm always confident in fastballs. I came just in time for the game," he recalled the moment of his first hit. As for the two-run timely hit situation, "I turned the bat short with the thought that it was correct. So I was able to make a good hit", he explained.
'I thought it was Jung Geun-wooJung Joon-jae was embarrassed when Kim Kwang-hyun praised him. Jung Joon-jae said "I feel good, but I'm not good enough. I will certainly try to do better so that others can see me like that as well."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
