'Trade to Minor League → Home Run Explosion' Son Ah-seop Finally Called Up to First Division → Immediately Starts as No. 2 Batter, Manager Expresses Expectation: "Current Form Is Good" [Gwangju Field Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

Doosan Bears veteran batter Son Ah-seop (38) made a surprise return to the first division after two weeks.

On the 14th, Doosan played an away regular-season game against the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

For the lineup, Doosan started with Jung Soobin (center fielder), Son Ah-seop (designated hitter), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), Cameron (right fielder), Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Oh Myung-jin (first baseman), Park Ji-hoon (third baseman), and Park Chan-ho (shortstop).

Changes were also made to the first division roster. Son Ah-seop and Im Jong-seong were called up to the first division, while Lee Yu-chan and Hong Seong-ho were removed from the roster.

The most notable name is Son Ah-seop.

Son Ah-seop joined the Doosan uniform via trade on April 14. At that time, Doosan executed a trade with Hanwha, receiving Son Ah-seop in exchange for pitcher Lee Gyo-hoon and 150 million won in cash.

Son Ah-seop made a strong impression right after joining Doosan, hitting a home run in his first game. However, his slump continued. In 12 first division games, he recorded a batting average of 0.111 (4 hits in 36 at-bats), 1 home run, 1 double, 4 RBIs, 5 runs scored, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.222, an on-base percentage of 0.195, an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.417, and a batting average with runners in scoring position of 0.125.

As a result, on the 29th of last month, Son Ah-seop was removed from the first division roster ahead of the Samsung Lions game held at Jamsil Stadium.

Sent down to the minor league, Son Ah-seop consistently played games and did his best to regain his hitting form. Starting with the Goyang Heroes game on April 30, he faced Hanwha Eagles from the 2nd to the 4th, Ulsan Whales from the 6th to the 8th, and the SSG Landers Futures team on the 9th and 10th.

And in the game the previous day (13th), he started as the No. 3 designated hitter against Sangmu, recording 1 hit in 3 at-bats (1 home run), 4 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and 2 walks, achieving three consecutive games with at least one on-base.

Son Ah-seop's home run came in the bottom of the first inning. With leadoff batter Jeon Da-min reaching base on a second baseman's error and follow-up batter Kim Jun-sang drawing a walk, there was a bases-empty, no-out situation with runners on first and second. Son Ah-seop stepped into the batter's box. Against Son A-seop-eun (SVP) starting pitcher Choi Hyun-seok, he launched a three-run home run over the center field wall. This was the moment Son Ah-seop hit his first home run of the year in the Futures League.

After this game, Son Ah-seop's overall Futures League statistics for this season were: 14 games played, batting average of 0.278 (10 hits in 36 at-bats), 1 home run, 4 doubles, 8 RBIs, 7 runs scored, 8 walks, 5 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.472, and an on-base percentage of 0.409.

Seeing Son Ah-seop's strong performance in the Futures League, the manager immediately called him up to the first division. Doosan manager Kim Won-hyeong, in an interview with reporters ahead of the game, said, "His current form is good, so we called him up," expressing his expectations. What kind of performance will Son Ah-seop show?

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*This content was translated by AI.