– 3 hits and 4 bases alone against Kiwoom on the 9th – batting average of 0.529 in August after call-up to the 1st team in
July ‘s grandson’ Lee Jung-hoon 꽁머니지급. It’s not just the name. He is also coming to resemble his skills. Lee Jung-hoon has been playing an active role as a designated hitter, wielding a fire bat with 7 hits in the last 4 games.
Lotte lost 8-10 against Gocheok Kiwoom on the 9th. The previous day, when they ran for two consecutive victories, they lost immediately. This match was disappointing in many ways. The decisive 3 defensive mistakes laid the foundation for a large number of points, and the mound operation was not easily understood.
Still, there were results. This is the discovery of designated hitter Lee Jung-hoon. In this game, the Lotte batting line hit 11 hits, 3 of which came from Lee Jung-hoon. His final result for the day was 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, and succeeded in 4 on base. Lee Jung-hoon stood at the forefront of Lotte’s attack with a hit to right field from the first at-bat in the first inning, and in the third at-bat in the 5th inning, he hit consecutive hits following Min-seok Kim, contributing decisively to creating a chance for the team to top the bases. In the fourth at-bat, he came out as the lead hitter and scored a hit, but the light faded as the two follow-up hitters withdrew with a fly ball and a double hit. In the last at-bat in the ninth inning, he got a straight walk and played a part in making the team full base. Using this as a stepping stone, Lotte scored as many as 5 runs in one inning.
In an interview with an international newspaper, Lee Jung-hoon confided that his hitting secret was ‘boldness’. He said, “The more aggressively and boldly we hit, the better the results seem to come out.” “I have a lot of conversations with hitting coach Park Heung-shik,” he said.
Coach Lee Jung-hoon and coach Park have a special relationship. Lee Jung-hoon, who debuted in the KIA Tigers uniform in the 2nd round of 10th in 2017 with the 94th ranking, transferred to Lotte this year. Coach Park ate rice with Lee Jung-hoon at KIA, and at this time Coach Park recognized Lee’s talent early on. After reuniting at Lotte, the two maintain a relationship that goes beyond master and disciple.
Recently, Lee Jung-hoon has been mainly as a designated hitter and boasts an amazing sense of hitting. After being called up to the first team on July 11, he recorded a batting average of 0.429, one home run, and OPS of 1.043 in 15 games. If you narrow it down to the August game, it is the league’s first place in this category with a batting average of 0.529 in 8 games. Under Lee Jung-hoon, Na Seong-beom (0.519 · KIA), Hwang Jae-gyun (0.517 · kt), and Koo Ja-wook (0.500 · Samsung) are competing for ranking.
This kind of Lee Jung-hoon actually went through many twists and turns. Since his debut, he has been on the first team stage only 14 times in three seasons, so he spent most of his time in the second team.
Accordingly, his position has also changed drastically. Although he was originally a catcher, he threw the catcher’s mask and recently turned first baseman or outfielder. Lee Jung-hoon said, “I completely forgot about the catcher. He is trying to focus only on the outfield,” he said, revealing his will, saying, “I’m trying not to just let every at-bat happen because the first-team opportunity is very precious right now.”
If Lee Jeong-hoon maintains such a sense of hitting steadily, there is a high possibility that he will definitely establish himself as the main designated hitter instead of the sluggish Jeon Jun-woo.