SSG's surprise choice. Recruitment of Kim Seo-hyun, who was not nominated even after hitting 40%

Jun 11, 2025

Jang Hyun-jin, who signed a training contract with SSG Landers. Photo =SSG Landers

SSG Landers surprisingly recruited a Korean batter who was active in the Western League of the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB). Jang Hyun-jin is from Seoul High School and has been praised for his batting talent.

On the 11th, SSG recruited outfielder Jang Hyun-jin (21), who was a member of Kuhu Hayate Ventures Shizuoka, a new team participating in the NPB Western League (2nd division). Jang Hyun-jin, who was born in 2004 and graduated from Seoul High School, is in the same class as Kim Seo-hyun, who currently plays for Hanwha Eagles.

During his senior year in high school, he played in 22 games at Seoul High School and recorded a batting average of 392 percent, nearly 40 percent, but failed to select a KBO rookie draft. Afterwards, Jang Hyun-jin, who was agonizing over going to college, chose the Japanese independent league and joined Tokushima Indigo Sachs. He participated in the KBO tryout in 2023, but once again failed to win the rookie draft, continuing his career in Japan. Jang Hyun-jin, who had 67 hits, three homers, 37 RBIs and five steals in 100 games in Tokushima for two years, joined the newly founded NPB Western League team. His Western League record is 19 hits and four RBIs in 26 games.

Jang Hyun-jin in Seoul High School. Sports Chosun DB

Since high school, professional scouts have been evaluated as having outstanding batting talent. It is not a big height and size, but it is said that the natural hitting mechanism is very good. In particular, he evaluated that there is a possibility of more than a number of performances in the Japanese Independent League and Western League, where there are quite a few pitchers over 150 kilometers.

The SSG team paid attention to Jang Hyun-jin's experience in Japanese baseball, his desperate attitude, and his potential for growth, and pushed for the recruitment to strengthen the fielders' depth by securing utility resources to handle both inside and outside"Jang Hyun-jin showed his ability to respond to balls more than 150 kilometers fast and excellent batting quality in the Japanese Independent League and Western League." He also has a sense of baserunning and defense capabilities. It is a multi-position resource that can play not only the first and third bases in the infield but also the corner outfield, and has excellent pitching power and main focus, he explained the background of the recruitment.

Above all, SSG gave high marks to Jang Hyun-jin's grit and attitude. A Hayate official said, `Jang Hyun-jin has shown consistent efforts to get a chance to play for the past three years. I was very impressed with the attitude of participating in the game with a very passionate and sincere attitude," he said.

SSG's recruitment of Jang Hyun-jin came while taking a close look at Japan in advance in preparation for the Asian quarter. SSG has succeeded in strengthening its power by recruiting Han Doo-sol, a former member of the Japanese independent league, and this recruitment is also meaningful in that it is an expansion of the development system. There is also an indirect connection with SSG. We are close friends with Japanese pitcher Keisho Shirakawa, who played for SSG as an injury substitute, in Tokushima last year.

Jang Hyun-jin will arrive through Gimpo Airport on June 12 and will join the SSG Futures team. First of all, as a nurturing player, he will look at the possibilities of the Futures team and then consider whether to switch to an official player.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.