In the Stove League ahead of the 2023 KBO League, the Samsung Lions did not have any clear power reinforcements such as recruiting an external free agent. Rather, internal free agents Kim Sang-soo and Oh Seon-jin moved to KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles, respectively, weakening their power. The fortunate thing is that even with the foreign player salary cap applied from this year, Buchanan, Suarez, and Pirella succeeded in renewing all three foreign players.
In particular, by accompanying Pirella, Samsung was able to relieve worries about the composition of the center batting line and outfield. Last year, Pirella earned an MVP-level performance with a batting average of 0.342, 28 homers, 109 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.976, winning the Golden Glove in the outfield category. Pirella, who is celebrating his third year in the KBO League this year, is expected to continue to energize the team throughout the airlift.
In the Samsung outfield, left fielder Pirella and right fielder Koo Ja-wook are certain to be the starters. Kim Hyeon-joon, who was mentioned as a candidate for the rookie of the year until the middle of the season, is expected to take over as center fielder, filling the gap left by FA Park Hae-min last year.
If the composition of Samsung’s outfield becomes virtually full, attention is focused on what will happen to the veteran outfielders who performed sluggishly last year. This is the story of Kim Heon-gon, born in 1988, and Kim Dong-yeop, born in 1990.
Kim Heon-gon was scheduled to acquire FA status after the end of last year’s season. In addition, he took on the captaincy and started as a center fielder in the opening game, raising expectations that he would continue to play an active role.
However, Kim Heon-gon only played 80 games and had a batting average of 0.192, 1 home run, 20 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.465. He struggled with extreme sluggishness with no hits in 43 consecutive at-bats, and put down the captain’s armband in August. The WAR (based on the Kaby Report), which represents the contribution to victory compared to substitute players, was -1.87, which was the lowest in the league. Kim Heon-gon obtained free agent status after the season, but gave up his application.
Right-hander Geopo Kim Dong-yeop was sluggish in 2021 with only 4 homers, but there were predictions that in 2022 he would revive the good jinx that was strong in even years. Kim Dong-yeop hit 27 homers in 2018 when he was with SK Wyverns and 20 homers in 2020, the second year after moving to Samsung.
However, while Kim Dong-yeop was in and out of the 1st and 2nd teams last year, he only played in 30 games. He was excluded from first-team entries for a whopping 146 days, including three times on the injured list. His batting average of 0.221, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, and OPS of 0.587 were his fewest home runs since his debut in the KBO League. WAR was negative at -0.69. There were even concerns that Kim Dong-yeop would be released after the season ended, but fortunately he was not released.
Samsung, which fell to 7th place last year, 메이저사이트 will play its first season after manager Park Jin-man took office this year, but fall baseball is also unpredictable because there has been no reinforcement of power. Therefore, observations are being raised that coach Park Jin-man will boldly appoint young players and pursue a generational change looking to the future.
If so, it can be a more ‘narrow gate’ for veteran players such as Kim Heon-gon and Kim Dong-yeop. It is noteworthy whether Samsung’s ‘sick fingers’ Kim Heon-gon and Kim Dong-yeop will dramatically revive and lead the team’s rebound.