Don't be discouraged by the coach → Three hits explosion somehow. That's polite

Sep 04, 2025

Don't be discouraged by the coach → Three hits explosion somehow. That's polite
A Jihoon Choi interview after the match against KIA in Gwangju on the 3rd. Photo = Reporter Na Yuri



"The bat may not be able to hit tomorrow, but shouldn't we show that we're trying to do it somehow?" I think that would be the least courtesy."

SSG Landers Jihoon Choi has been suffering from ups and downs in its batting this season. He has a batting average of 265 and an OPS of 0.655. In fact, considering that his career batting average is 273, it is not a big difference, but he has shown a decline in detailed indicators such as slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He has only four home runs, which was his career-high with 11 home runs last year.

There is no disagreement when it comes to defense. He is an undisputed main center fielder in the team, and boasts a high-level defensive range even when considering the entire league. It is the most decisive factor in being selected as a national outfielder. However, since the hitting slump was so long, he had a lot of thoughts on his own and showed a contraction. In addition, with the recruitment of Kim Sung-wook this season, the use of outfield defense has expanded slightly, and the number of games excluded from selection has also increased. In many ways, there is no choice but to have a lot of thoughts. It was expected that he would be able to take over the leadoff after Choo Shin-soo, but he has recently been placed in the lower batting order.




Manager Lee Soo-yong said, `Some things were missing from the game, and I think I'm a little down because the performance isn't as good as I thought. Yesterday (2nd) when I was moving after the game, I walked with (Choi) Jun-woo, and he said that you two should go out and do it tomorrow. I told Ji-hoon not to be discouraged, and he said it could happen if you play baseball. "I feel sorry for him as a director because I see him so discouraged."The Jihoon Choi should grow more. He is also a player who needs to grow as a team leader. The trajectory and the picture in the US camp are not coming out. It's going to be hard because you're trying to find it, but it's not working well. I think I'll get through it."

Don't be discouraged by the coach → Three hits explosion somehow. That's polite
A game between SSG and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 10th, and a Jihoon Choi on first base with no outs in the top of the ninth inning hits. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.10/
Was the coach's encouragement effective. The next day, on the 3rd, he started as a sixth-center fielder against the Gwangju KIA Tigers, stole a hit from his first at-bat, scored a run, and led his team to a 2-1 victory with three hits, one walk and one score in four at-bats.

When asked if he had received more energy from his hometown, Gwangju native replied, "'Maybe if you look it up, you'll have one in your hand. I don't remember doing well here, smiling "I went in comfortably today. Because I'm a pitcher, I dealt with him comfortably"I looked back.




The Jihoon Choi is that Lee Sung-yong's encouragement made him feel comfortable. "The grass was dead."Rather, I think he looked like that because he couldn't feel good because baseball didn't work. The director said 'Ji Hoon, you're going out tomorrow, so do well. It might be burdensome in a way because you said, 'Please be good to me', but I feel rather confident that you said this. Coach Son Si-heon also told me a lot of good things yesterday, and thanks to your support, I think I did well in my hometown today."

The Jihoon Choi is well aware of what director Lee Sung-yong talked about 'Painting at the U.S. Camp'. The Jihoon Choi joked that "The director had a good touch, and he told me to trust him this year."You should have maintained it well when it worked out." It seems like I'm making excuses every year, but the weather is getting hot rapidly and I'm sweating too much, so the balance is a little bit broken. Still, I think it helped me today to make a lot of batting modifications with coach Kang Byung-sik over the past three days." Recently, he found that his lower body was not holding well during hitting, so he had excessive strength in his hands, and adjusting this part while consulting with the hitting coach led to good results against KIA.

Don't be discouraged by the coach → Three hits explosion somehow. That's polite
A game between LG and SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 16th, and Jihoon Choi, with two outs and runners on second base, hits a timely RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning. Incheon= Reporter Huh Sang-wook's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.16/
Jihoon Choi said "Even if I had three hits today, I feel uncomfortable because I've been so bad. I feel really good today, but I have to do better in the remaining 19 games"Since we have a lot of physical strength in stock recently, we have to go and hit it unless it breaks somewhere. I'll do it like a Jihoon Choi, as the fans liked it. The bat may not be able to play tomorrow right away, but he must show his willingness to do something at every batter's box. I think that would be the least courtesy"He expressed his strong determination ahead of the last-minute spurt.




Recently, there was an event where fans hung uniforms with Jihoon Choi's name marked on each seat in the outfield seats at Landers Field and created a uniform number '54'. Of course, I also saw Jihoon Choi who played center field defense. He "It was very touching. I wanted to express my gratitude, but I'm not playing baseball well, and I'm sorry I couldn't say hello because I thought I might look like I was going out of my way. I received a lot of energy, and I was emotional thinking that you were always silently looking at my back and cheering me on. I'm just very grateful," he said, conveying the message.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.