Diaz is overwhelmingly No. 1, and Home Run Derby is a dark cloud?It could be Ahn Hyunmin's performance. Why?

Jul 11, 2025

Diaz is overwhelmingly No. 1, and Home Run Derby is a dark cloud?It could be Ahn Hyunmin's performance. Why?
The match between the Samsung Lions and the LG Twins at Daegu Lions Park on the 6th. Samsung Diaz is cheering after hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Daegu=Park Jae-man Reporter pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.06/



Diaz is overwhelmingly No. 1, and Home Run Derby is a dark cloud?It could be Ahn Hyunmin's performance. Why?
A match between the Samsung Lions and the KT Wiz at Daegu Lions Park on the 15th. KT Ahn Hyun-min is hitting. Daegu = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.06.15/
"We need to raise the angle of launch...."

Daejeon Hanwha Life Ball Park opened this year. There is a huge wall 8m high on the right fence. A.k.a. 'Monster Wall'

Hanwha Life Ball Park has an asymmetric structure with an outfield distance of 99m on the left and 95m on the right. Instead of the distance on the right being 4 m short, an 8 m 'monster wall' was built to compensate for this.




The players who saw Monster Wall were tongue-in-cheek. In particular, 'big left-handed hitters' have a big handicap in home run production. Although the distance is short, it is not easy to send the ball out of the fence with some ballistics in order for a home run to come out.

All-Star Game Home Run Derby to determine the best of 2025. The participants were decided by 100% fan voting. KT Ahn Hyun-min, Samsung Lewin Diaz, SSG Choi Jung, Hanwha Moon Hyun-bin, Kiwoom Song Sung-moon, NC Kim Hyung-joon, LG Park Dong-won and Kiwoom Lee Ju-hyung, who received the top votes through fan voting among the 12 All-Star players who recorded more than eight home runs until the 29th of last month.

Up to last year, 'Outset' method. For the first time this year, the 'part-time' method was introduced. Last year, the player with the most home runs based on 7 outs in the preliminary round and 10 outs in the final became the winner. Starting this year, both qualifying and finals can hit without a limit of two minutes of pitching time, and a maximum of 30 seconds can be used for each time. Even after the time limit has ended, additional hits can be made until two outs in the preliminary round and three outs in the final round.




Diaz is overwhelmingly No. 1, and Home Run Derby is a dark cloud?It could be Ahn Hyunmin's performance. Why?
The KBO League exhibition game between Hanwha and Samsung held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 17th. Daejeon Hanwha Life Ball Park's new stadium 'Monster Wall' Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.03.17/
Unfortunately, right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters were accurately divided into four. The right-handed batter is Ahn Hyun-min, Choi Jeong, Kim Hyung-joon, and Park Dong-won, and the left-handed batter is Diaz, Moon Hyun-bin, Song Sung-moon, Lee Ju-hyung.

Diaz hit 29 home runs in the first half, overwhelmingly leading second-place Patrick Wisdom (KIA) Austin Dean (LG, 20 home runs) by nine home runs. However, none of this season's home runs exceeded Monster Wall.

On the other hand, it could be advantageous for Ahn Hyun-min, who took the top spot in fan voting. All 16 home runs hit this season are distributed on the left and center walls.




As it creates a home run by pulling based on solid power, it is advantageous to cross the fence of Hanwha Life Ball Park. In addition, the distance is well over 120m, so the all-time home run show may be held.

Diaz is overwhelmingly No. 1, and Home Run Derby is a dark cloud?It could be Ahn Hyunmin's performance. Why?
The NC-Hanwha match at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 1st is celebrating after hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the 7th inning. Daejeon = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.7.1/
Among the left-handed hitters, Moon Hyun-bin's performance is drawing attention. I'm a right-handed hitter, but I already remember passing the Monster Wall three times. Chae Eun-sung, the 2023 All-Star home run race winner, said "You have to pull it to the left and hit it, but there's a monster wall. I think we should raise the launch angle, not the line drive"I think Hyunbin (Moon) will do well," he said, leaving advice.

In the match against KIA in Daejeon on the 10th, the last game of the first half, he had a walk-off hit, showing a sense of 'heavy hitting'.

Meanwhile, KBO unveiled the Home Run Derby winning product on the 10th. The winner with the most home runs will receive a trophy and a prize of 5 million won, along with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. LG Standby Me 2 will be provided to the player who hit the longest home run by awarding a trophy and 1 million won in prize money to the runner-up. In addition, the player with the most home runs in the 'Compya Zone' designated in the outfield will receive the Compya Zone Most Home Run Award and donate 1 million won worth of baseball supplies to the player's alma mater.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.