Oh, 7.2 billion FA is directly hit by Hanwha's mega-hit trade...I'm going to make him the designated hitter
Aug 01, 2025
|
|
Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon announced the use of Son Ah-seop, who was acquired in a trade before the Gwangju KIA Tigers match on the 1st. By using Son Ah-seop as the designated hitter, he is trying to focus on adding to the structure of the lineup. An Chi-hong, the existing designated hitter, is expected to be directly hit.
Hanwha acquired Son Ah-seop in a trade with the NC Dinos on the 31st of last month. NC handed over only 300 million won in cash and the third round of the 2026 rookie draft without leaking players. Hanwha has been eager to reinforce its outfielders all season, solving its long-cherished business by embracing the league's best school hitter Son Ah-seop at the trade deadline.
Son Ah-seop's main position is right field, but the proportion of designated hitters in NC this year was quite high. He had 150 at-bats in right field, 79 at-bats in designated hitter, and 25 at-bats in left field. He has a batting average of 0.343 (24 hits in 70 at-bats) when he is a designated hitter. He hit .301 (41 hits in 136 at-bats) as a right fielder.
One variable is that Son Ah-seop has recently been being treated for a side injury. The degree of injury is not severe. Son Ah-seop trained together as soon as he joined the Hanwha team on the 1st, and lightly tee-batted. It is expected that he will be able to join the first team soon, but for now, I will focus only on hitting Hanwha, which is most in need of reinforcement.
Then, An Chi-hong will naturally have less time to play. An Chi-hong recorded 117 at-bats as a designated hitter and 15 at-bats as a second baseman this year. There is also a wrist injury in the first half of the year, and second baseman Lee Do-yoon, Hwang Young-mook, and Ha Joo-seok's defense is better.
The problem is that the batting average is too low to use An Chi-hong as a professional designated hitter. He has a batting average of 0.177 (23 hits in 130 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.461 in 44 games this season. Since he was registered in the first team on the 29th of last month after being reorganized from the second team, he has a batting average of 0.357 (5 hits in 14 at-bats). Son Ah-seop came at a time when he was feeling a little bit like he was getting the hang of it.
|
|
Son Ah-seop boasts a career batting average of 0.320 (2,583 hits in 8073 at-bats). He's third in the batting average. In 2023, he hit a batting average of 0.339 for the season and became the first batting champion of his career. He had a batting average of 0.300 (72 hits in 240 at-bats) before his injury this year. There is certainly talent on the part of the hitting.
An Chi-hong signed a six-year, 7.2 billion won FA contract with Hanwha ahead of last season, and this year is his second year. Hanwha is a player who invested a lot of money early on to win the championship. Son Ah-seop is a player who took the lead in the regular season and sealed the victory in the Korean Series. It is best if both players can be used, but at the moment, one of them is bound to lose their playing time.
Son Ah-seop has a great willingness to meet Hanwha's expectations. I was thirsty for an opportunity in NC, so I want to show more in Hanwha, which wants him.
Son Ah-seop said, "I felt a lot that my seat was narrowing down (in the NC). I got a lot of opportunities, but when I felt like I was getting less room to play. When I heard about the trade, I thought it was another good opportunity for me. Seriously, it's a team with manager Kim Kyung-moon that I really wanted to do with before retiring at least once. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn baseball again", vowing to live up to expectations.
|
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
