LG Twins director Ryu Ji-hyun is interviewing reporters at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 17th. Yonhap News provided
“Last season, we placed the shortstop with 41 doubles and 10 home runs as the 9th batter. This is a great way to see how thick LG’s player base is.”
Hanwha coach Carlos Subero said this before the demonstration game with LG in Daejeon on the 21st. The LG shortstop he pointed out was Oh Ji-hwan.
He was named in the starting lineup as a 9th batter and shortstop in the game on the 21st following the day before (20th), which was canceled due to rain.
LG director Ryu Ji-hyun, who heard of Subero’s interview, laughed.
Manager Ryu Ji-hyun plans to place Oh Ji-hwan in the ninth batting order this season. “There is a possibility to use 2 or 6-7 times depending on the condition,” he said, but when Oh Ji-hwan is placed in the ninth batting order, the connection of other ships is expected to be the best.
Oh Ji-hwan made the most 373 at-bats last year as a second batter, followed by 73 times as a ninth batter. It was also quite placed in the 6th (68 at-bats) and 7th (60 at-bats) batting order.
On the afternoon of the 3rd, the professional baseball LG Twins trained for the 2021 Spring Camp at LG Champions Park in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Oh Ji-hwan is practicing defense. Lee Chun = Reporter Jeong Si-jong [email protected] /2021.02.03.
Director Ryu Ji-hyun prioritizes Oh Ji-hwan’s ninth batting order, considering his physical strength. Shortstop is considered to be a position that has the most defensive burden and consumes the most stamina among both inside and outside field. Director Ryu Ji-hyun revealed, “I can’t help but think about Oh Ji-hwan’s physical part. Looking at the accumulated dating, there was a difference in batting average with and without Oh Ji-hwan’s power.” It means that the blow is better when there is no physical burden. In the case of a 9th batter, there are fewer at-bats returning than the top batting order, so even a little bit of physical burden can be relieved.
Another reason is to complete’Strong Batter 9′. I thought about the connection with the top batting order. Last year, LG’s 9th hitter was Jung Joo-hyun (92 starting games) with a batting average of 0.247 (0.312 on-base ratio).
Manager Ryu emphasized, “I’m trying to make a strong ninth hitter this year.” This is because if Oh Ji-hwan, who recorded an on-base ratio of 0.362 last year, on base, the chances are connected to the lead-offs such as Lee Chun-woong and Hong Chang-gi, as well as the center hitting line such as Kim Hyun-soo and Roberto Ramos, which will increase the scoring power.
Director Ryu Ji-hyun also explained the direction of the lower batting order. Regardless of the stereotype that’the eighth hitter is the catcher’, he plans to make up the batting order. On this day, Gangnam Yoo was placed in the 7th (catcher) and Joohyun Jung in the 8th (second base) batting order. Director Ryu said, “I don’t think the catcher will (unconditionally) hit the 8th batter. I’ll be flexible.” There is also a plan to replace it.”
Reporter Lee Hyung-seok
