"Batting performance is among the top in the KBO." The top-tier rookie's move to the minor league, and the manager's confession: "Actually, there were already signals..."

*This content was translated by AI.

"The completion level of his swing mechanism is high. It is at a top-tier level even in the KBO."

This was the reason NC selected 19-year-old Shin Jae-in with the second overall pick, leaving behind numerous strong pitching candidates. He was a standout prospect from the start, even receiving offers from Major League Baseball (MLB), and NC chose Shin Jae-in as the infielder who would be responsible for the team's future. NC Dinos batting coach Jo Young-hoon sent high praise for Shin Jae-in's batting.

NC gave Shin Jae-in, a graduate of Yushin High School, a signing bonus of 250 million won. The top-tier rookie appeared in 12 spring training games, batting .310 (9 hits in 29 at-bats), with an on-base percentage of .429, a slugging percentage of .483, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .0912, swinging the bat powerfully. However, once the regular season began, his performance was different.

He struggled in 23 games, batting just .149 (7 hits in 47 at-bats). Although he hit two home runs, showcasing his one-shot power ability, he could not seem to adapt to the pitches of KBO League pitchers.

As a result, on the 4th, he was removed from the first-division roster along with pitcher Won Jong-hae. Infielder Shin Sung-ho and pitcher Shin Young-woo filled the vacant spots.

Ahead of the away game against SSG Landers held at the Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 5th, manager Lee Ho-jun met with reporters and said, "Actually, there were already signals from before that I was going to send him down. But with Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hui-jip leaving the third-base side, I thought, 'This could be another opportunity,' so I kept him. However, in reality, his physical strength had dropped significantly, his swing speed wasn't coming out, and he seemed to be getting confused."

He continued, "He himself felt that his timing was off, his head was getting confused, there were physical issues, and his expression changed." He added, "I wanted to send him down quickly, and he should have gone down before that to get himself in shape. Fortunately, (Shin) Sung-ho was able to be registered as a development player on that date, so we made the switch."

Defense coach Jin Jong-gil also evaluated, "Fundamentally, I think the player's inherent ability is excellent," and noted that Shin Jae-in was the player selected with the second overall pick based on such comprehensive evaluations.

Shin Jae-in had aimed to survive in the first division from the beginning and felt the high wall of professional baseball, but he spent a longer-than-expected time in the first division.

Having experienced one failure, he needs to build a body that can play the season in the Futures League, address his batting shortcomings, and regain his confidence.

It is common for rookies entering their debut season to experience physical fluctuations in the KBO League's long race of 144 games. It is not common for high school rookie players to land smoothly in professional baseball from their first season. Citing Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco) and Kang Baek-ho (Hanwha) as examples, he said, "There are truly exceptional cases, but this player still needs more improvement physically and technically." He expressed his expectation, saying, "I thought it would be a negative for the player if he stayed here. It is not important to play games here; what matters is to go down, find his own form again, and come back to show it."

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*This content was translated by AI.