"Oh Jaewon might lose his seat." No! Moon Hyunbin has grown up again... Even the defense is perfect [the site of a war]

*This content was translated by AI.

The class was different. Although Moon Hyun-bin (22, Hanwha Eagles) prepared for the season with the alarm that he might lose his position to rookie Oh Jae-won (19), he proved why he is a national star in just one game.

Moon Hyun-bin started in left field as the third batter in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 28th, and played an active role with three hits, one walk, one strikeout, three RBIs, and one run from five times at bat.

After graduating from Bukil High School, Moon Hyun-bin, a local boy who joined 11th in the second round in 2023 and showed promise from the first season, showed promise from the first season and was reborn as a leading hitter in the league with a batting average of 0.320 12 home runs, 80 RBIs and 71 points and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.823, in 141 games last year in his third year.

In salary negotiations, he signed 230 million won by recording the highest increase in fielders (161.36%) from 88 million won last year, and was selected to the national team through fierce outfield competition and experienced the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

Moon Hyun-bin, who described himself as "a tadpole, not a frog in a well" after the WBC, failed to increase his batting average with a batting average of 0.105 (2 hits in 19 at-bats) in the exhibition game.

Moon Hyun-bin, who also received praise for his batting talent in the national team, was worried that he could be a slow starter.

Even this was a tilt. In the bottom of the first inning, he hit Raul Alcantara's 151km/h outside fastball without delay from the first pitch to create a double. It was an opportunity to score the first point with Alcantara's wild pitch with two outs and runners on the second and third bases.

In the third inning, he stepped down with a ground ball with one out and runners on the first and third bases, but there was no problem bringing third baseman Oh Jae-won home.

Moon Hyun-bin, who calmly drew a walk in the fifth inning, rolled up Kim Jae-woong's low-fall slider in the seventh inning to hit an RBI heavy hit.

He struck out in the ninth inning, but in the bottom of the 11th inning, he hit a low-course fastball outside 150km/h of Yuto's first pitch and hit a double to left-center to complete the chase. After that, he sprinted when Noh Si-hwan hit left-handed and scored an equalizer with an exquisite head-first sliding. Kang Baek-ho received the most attention by hitting a walk-off hit, but it was a win that would not have been expected without Moon Hyun-bin.

He also shone in defense. In the bottom of the 10th inning, he stole Lee Joo-hyung's double-base hit. Moon Hyun-bin, who ran hard to catch the ball, received a standing ovation from the spectators who filled the stadium.

When I look back on my remarks during the opening media day, I can even laugh in vain. Coach Kim Kyung-moon picked rookie Oh Jae-won as a hit product this season on the opening media day. In response, Moon Hyun-bin praised Oh Jae-won, who has fast feet and strengths in defense, and said, "Jae-won is also really good. I also think I can lose that position because I won the competition and became the main player. "I always think it's a competition and I'm trying hard not to lose (the main competition) as much as possible," he said.

Oh Jae-won also hit three hits from the opening game and performed better than expected, but there were scenes that were disappointing in defense and the batting quality was not good. Moon Hyun-bin was Hanwha's best hitter, regardless of batting quality, defense, baserunning, and confident attitude.

Although he is the third hitter, he rather relieved the burden. Moon Hyun-bin said earlier, "I'm sure I feel less burdened because I have a stronger hitter in front of me," adding, "If I don't try to play against (Kang) Baek-ho and (Roh) Si-hwan, I'll also play against me, and if I get a real pitch, I can hit it, so on the other hand, it's better."

Perhaps the effect came out? Moon Hyun-bin turned the bat confidently from the first pitch and produced a sharp hit. He consistently set the table and showed off his solver's side when the chance came. It was also possible because of Moon Hyun-bin that Noh Si-hwan and Kang Baek-ho, who had been silent with no hits in 10 at-bats, were eventually able to lead the opening game to a tie-breaking hit and finish in the bottom of the 11th inning. It rebounded surprisingly last year, but it was an opening game that convinced Moon Hyun-bin's growth will not stop.

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*This content was translated by AI.