What if it's not the second Lee Jong Beom? No.1 hitter + shortstop, you can do it too!A realistic choice, not romantic.
Sep 11, 2025
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The NC Dinos and SSG Landers are both teams with '1 shortstop'. NC's Kim Joo-won and SSG's Park Sung-han are playing shortstop leadoff.
Both players were not the first hitter at the opening time, but their positions were changed depending on the team's circumstances.
NC's leadoff was Park Min-woo, and NC manager Lee Ho-joon suddenly selected Kim Joo-won, who was mainly in the lower batting order, as the second batter this season.
Kim Joo-won first became famous for his long-shot ability to hit double-digit home runs. It was also naturally compared to former shortstop Roh Jin-hyuk. Even at a young age, he was recognized for his potential to be consistently selected for the national team, including the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Premier 12.
Although the batting average was somewhat low, he had a good pioneering eye that the gap between the batting average and the on-base percentage exceeded 10% since his debut. In addition, since he mainly played shortstop, he focused on showing long balls in the lower batting order considering the burden of physical strength.
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At one point in April, he fell into a severe slump and put the head coach in trouble, but he began to gradually raise his pace in May. And while Park Min-woo was undergoing changes to strengthen the lineup, Kim Joo-won became the first hitter from mid-June.
And the potential exploded. Kim Joo-won, who hit .399 with an OPS of .815 in June, emerged as the center of NC's batting average, hitting .361 with nine home runs and an OPS of 1.065 in the second half of the year. Although he is experiencing some physical burden in September, he needs to cheer up a little more for the team's fight against the semifinals. Even considering Park Min-woo and Park Gun-woo, who have many minor injuries, Kim Joo-won's run as a leadoff is the driving force to boost the team's power.
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Park Sung-han's situation is a little different. SSG's leadoff was by far a Jihoon Choi called 'baby beast'.
However, while Jihoon Choi remains impressive in defense, the sharpness of the batting seems to have fallen somewhat since 2022, when he made his debut. The batting average this season is 267, similar to that of previous years, but the OPS fell sharply to 0.660, compared to last year's 0.753. In particular, the slump in June-July, when the batting average fluctuated above and below 20%, was serious.
In the meantime, Park Sung-han chose it as a desperate measure. Park Sung-han did not have a fast foot, and due to the nature of his position as a shortstop, he did not have much experience in leadoff considering the burden of physical strength.
However, like Kim Joo-won, he has consistently shown a batting average and on-base percentage that is nearly 10% different from the batting average through good pioneering eyes. The fire bat, which has boosted its batting performance since June, was also noticeable.
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It is far from the traditional No. 1, where he runs and shakes the opponent's infield when he goes out like a Lee Jong-beom.
However, head coach Lee Soo-yong said, `I thought Park Sung-han was another player who could take the leadoff in our team"You are a shortstop who can hit the leadoff like Park Chan-ho (KIA Tigers)." Don't limit your own value, but show me how you raise your own." As a head coach, I tried to thoroughly manage my physical strength.
I can do it if I want to steal because I have a good sense of running base, but I tend to refrain from it considering the burden of physical strength or injury. A focus on playing more games. It's hard, or he refuses to replace it before, but recently he accepts it coolly.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
