"Choi Hyungwoo is having a hard time..." Despite Koo Ja-wook's departure, the defense is only once a week, and the '43-year-old veteran's scary presence in the batter's box [the site of a war]

*This content was translated by AI.

"I tried to push twice a week, but Choi Hyungwoo was having a hard time..."

Koo Ja-wook (33, Samsung Lions) suddenly fell out due to an injury. There was a hole in one outfield, but Samsung coach Park Jin-man (50) did not look at the oldest hitter. Choi Hyung-woo (43) made it clear that he would have a firm principle and minimize the burden.

Choi Hyung-woo answered immediately. Choi Hyung-woo started as the third designated hitter in an away game against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 14th and led his team to a 6-5 come-from-behind victory by scoring one hit, three walks, and one RBI in two at-bats.

It was an easy victory, with the opponent giving up 18 dead and losing himself, but Choi Hyung-woo's weight at the plate was considerable.

Before the game, Samsung said Koo Ja-wook was removed from the first-team entry due to a fine incontinence injury in his left chest. Nevertheless, coach Park Jin-man drew the line that Choi Hyung-woo's use will not change.

Coach Park said, "Choi Hyung-woo will use it only once a week," adding, "I was going to push it up to twice a week, but it's so hard that I'm going to use it only once a week for the time being. If one game is canceled due to rain in the middle, we will try to create an atmosphere so that we can focus only on batting. We will only use it once a week at most," he said.

Choi Hyung-woo also proved why he is a player of sufficient value even if he plays as a designated hitter. Choi Hyung-woo, who had a hit ball in the first inning, struck out in the third inning, and walked in the fifth inning, hit Park Sang-won's fastball to the right in the top of the seventh inning with no outs and no outs when his team was being dragged 0-5. In the meantime, first baseman Kim Ji-chan headed to third base.

Choi Hyung-woo completed his second career 2,600 hits in the KBO with this hit. He is fiercely chasing Son Ah-seop (2619 hits) who ranks first in KBO career hits.

After Choi Hyung-woo's hit, Hanwha allowed two consecutive walks while changing pitchers twice in the seventh inning, and Samsung won its first valuable score by pushing away.

After that, Samsung won by adding five more points with pushbacks and walks, and Choi Hyung-woo was also at the center here. In the top of the eighth inning, Choi Hyung-woo entered the batter's box with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, and Hanwha put closer Kim Seo-hyun one step first. However, Kim Seo-hyun rarely threw a strike and eventually caused a bases-loaded crisis with a walk.

After a 10-pitch game with Lewin Diaz, he gave up another walk and allowed Ryu Ji-hyuk to walk. Samsung already followed closely to 4-5.

Samsung also loaded the bases again in the ninth inning with Park Se-hyuk's hit, Lee Sung-kyu's sacrifice bunt, Kim Jae-sang's walk, and Park Seung-gyu's body hit. Choi Hyung-woo came to the plate again after the third baseman was out of the home when Kim Ji-chan grounded out to the second base.

Kim Seo-hyun was unable to go head-to-head against Choi Hyung-woo in a burdensome situation where he could allow a turnaround at once with a single hit. Kim Seo-hyun, who started with three consecutive balls, later made a full count, but Choi Hyung-woo fouled out six pitches and endured the ball out of the seven-ball zone, drawing a walk to tie the score. After that, he drew a walk to Lee Hae-seung, and Samsung was able to come from behind to win 6-5.

There was only one hit and it was not a timely hit, but Choi Hyung-woo stood at the center of Hanwha's shocking abuse of four outs.

After the game, Choi Hyung-woo said, "I set a record of 2,600 hits, but I think it's a record that builds up naturally when I play baseball for a long time, and I don't put much meaning on it, and I'm always trying to do my best."

"I think I've had a lot of walks today because I've been trying to get on base somehow because I've been feeling a little less hit lately," he said. "It was a difficult game, but I'm satisfied that I won, and I'll focus more on the rest of the game. I sincerely thank the fans for their support," he said.

Samsung invested 2.6 billion won in the 43-year-old veteran for the first time in 10 years. He played only 15 innings in just two games in defense, but as a batter, he has a terrible presence with a batting average of 0.286 (14 hits in 49 at-bats), four homers, 13 RBIs and eight runs, a on-base percentage of 0.446, a slugging percentage of 0.551 and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.997 in 14 games.

It is true that the use of players is decreasing due to the fixed position of designated hitters, but Choi Hyung-woo properly shows how good the value of a clear hitter is.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.