I heard you had a taste of bulk-up. Complete the project...In the second year of the home run king's hiatus, he returned to 1R, when he was hitting 4%

Jun 29, 2025

SSG 박지환. 고척=Jeong Heon, Songsongs@sportschosun.com

"I don't think it should be delayed any longer...."

SSG Landers registered Park Ji-hwan (20) in the first division ahead of the game against the Hanwha Eagles at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 29th.

Park Ji-hwan, who was designated by SSG in the first round of the 2024 rookie draft (10th overall), played in 76 games in his first year and posted a batting average of 276, four home runs and eight steals (OPS) of 0.703.

In particular, he showed off his best batting performance with a batting average of 384 in 30 games since the opening. In addition, the monthly batting average for 19 games in June was 411.

Although he was included in the opening entry of this season, he was sluggish in 18 games with a batting average of 167, and was eventually excluded from the first-team entry for reorganization on April 20. He practiced third base in the offseason, but he also had difficulty adapting.

In the Futures League, Park Ji-hwan took a long breath and built his body again. He did outfield training at the same time and went into bulk-up. He was called back to the first team in 70 days as he recorded a batting average of 314 with one homer and four steals in 28 games in the Futures.

SSG Park Ji-hwan is training for defense. Incheon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /

Park Ji-hwan was immediately listed in the starting lineup as the ninth hitter and right fielder. SSG head coach Lee Sung-yong "The reports continued to come up well. The project I did with the front desk is over. It swelled three to four kilograms. My muscle mass has increased a lot, and I have gained strength. I don't think it should be delayed any longer, so I'm going to call up and check it out. That's why I included it in the starting lineup", he explained.

Manager Lee then said, "(Park) Ji-hwan had an interview before going down to the second division, but he was too much for the third baseman. I was so tired, I couldn't hit and I was tired of defense. I had an interview because I thought I should give it time, but I talked about the outfield to save the hit. I talked to him and asked him to give me time, and I talked to the front desk and Choo Shin-soo's assistant to start bulk-up"I've given you enough time. The ratio of outfield and infielders is about 7 to 3. He is second to none as an outfielder. He said, "I've adapted a lot, and the mechanism of hitting has improved.'

As he showed good performance in the Futures League, only the process of adaptation remains in the first team. Director Lee said, `I have regrets about the infield myself. I talked to Ji-hwan, and he said it would not be easy to do both infield and outfield. He said he had a 3-4kg bulk-up, but if he received both infield and outfield pengo, he would lose weight. I'm going to take it into consideration and give it time to watch it,' he explained.

Park Ji-hwan also showed enthusiasm. Director Lee spent considerable time in the 2nd Army. He said he got a taste of it because his batting balance improved and his batting speed and distance increased while bulk-up. I'm going to do a lot of weight training in the first team. I joined last year and shined for about a month and a half, but I honestly thought it wasn't easy with my old body, so I thought it was important to build up my body first," he said. "I'm going to see it as a long-term race."

Meanwhile, outfielder Chae Hyun-woo was excluded from the entry as Park Ji-hwan was registered in the first team. Chae Hyun-woo played in 22 games this season and posted a batting average of 185.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.