the on-base king's season out. Weakening attacks is natural. He also lost his second consecutive right fielder in defense.
May 21, 2025
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The on-base percentage was the on-base king for three seasons, including 2021 and 2023, and last year. Since 2020, when he became the main player, he has been on base for six years until the 13th, when he was injured, ranking first among all batters with a .430 on-base percentage. He is not just a batter who gets on base a lot, but he is strong in chances. Since 2020, the batting average in scoring has been 345. He ranks first in the batting average among batters who have completed the regular at-bats during this period. It is also higher than KIA Choi Hyung-woo (0.319) and Samsung Koo Ja-wook (0.317), as well as Kim Hye-sung (0.327), LG Kim Hyun-soo (0.325), NC Park Min-woo (0.324), and KIA Kim Sun-bin (0.324).
However, Hong Chang-ki's ability is not just his offense.
The defense is also the best. Usually, in the LG outfield, Park Hae-min is often in the spotlight. It covers such a wide range and makes LG fans cheer by putting out difficult balls with picturesque catches. Hong Chang-ki's right field defense is also stable, although not as spectacular as Park Hae-min.
Hong Chang-ki is the right fielder who received the KBO's defensive award for the second consecutive year in 2023 and last year. The KBO defense award is determined by adding up 75% of the voting score of the voting group and 25% of the defensive record score. There are a total of 110 people, 11 people per club, including nine coaches and one general manager. In other words, among experts who watch the players' play directly on the field, the experts judge the other players and vote.
However, Hong Chang-ki won the right field position in the KBO defense award for the second time in a row. It is not that he does not consider the position of defense like Golden Glove, but because he accurately sees the position of right field, he was evaluated as the best defense among the 10 right fielders of the 10 teams.
In the first year of 2023, Hong Chang-ki received 75 points as the top vote player, and last year, he also received 75 points as the top vote player. This means that the batting team also rated Hong Chang-ki's right-field defense the highest.
One of the factors that allowed LG to perform well early this season was good defense. Both infielders and outfielders made amazing plays that caught the opponent's hit, reducing the number of pitches by LG pitchers and cutting the flow of the opponent's team.
Hong Chang-ki, who injured his left knee after colliding with Kim Min-soo during defense in Jamsil against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 13th, was found to have a ruptured collateral ligament during a re-examination on the 20th and will undergo four to five months of rehabilitation along with surgery. The regular season out has been confirmed, and it is expected to be seen only in the postseason.
Now, the right fielder replacing Hong Chang-ki has to fill Hong Chang-ki's vacancy not only in offense but also in defense. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop gave up the position to Song Chan-eui first, and Song Chan-eui has consistently played in right field, showing a stable defense. On the 20th, when Hong Chang-ki was confirmed to be out of the regular season due to a ruptured collateral ligament, he swept six RBIs alone, including his first grand slam, in the Lotte Giants match in Busan, playing a role as an alternative to fill Hong's gap by leading his team to a 17-9 victory.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
