"We don't need a big hit, just hit it 50 meters." Captain's advice → Diaz wakes up with a .524 batting average in 5 games... Samsung, averaging 10 runs per game, erases the gap with the first-place team

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Batting average of 0.524 over 5 games (11 hits in 21 at-bats), 2 home runs, 9 RBIs.

Lewin Diaz (30, Samsung Lions), who had been worried about not hitting a home run for 19 games, has fully awakened. The last season's home run champion could only take off after letting go of his desire for home runs. The answer lay in the advice from "Captain" Ju Ja-wook (33).

On the 19th, Diaz started at first base and batted fifth in the game against SSG Landers held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League home series. He went 5-for-5 with a home run, 5 RBIs, and 3 runs scored, delivering a powerful performance.

His bat started swinging hard from the first inning. With one out and bases loaded, Diaz hit a two-run double off opposing starter Shota Takeda's changeup to take the lead.

In the second inning, with two outs and a runner on second, Diaz hit a single to right field. In the fourth inning, he singled against Park Si-hoo with no outs and one on base, then scored on Byun Byeong-woo's three-run home run.

In the fifth, he unleashed a blast. With no outs and one on base, Diaz lifted Seo Jin-yong's low forkball over the right-field fence for a two-run home run. This was Diaz's 18th home run of the season. In the sixth inning, with one out and runners on first and second, he hit a double to add an RBI.

Diaz joined Samsung late in the 2024 season and last year hit 50 home runs and drove in 158 runs to claim the batting double crown. It was the first 50-home run season in KBO League history since Park Byung-ho's 53 in 2015, and it set a single-season record for RBIs in the league.

That makes this season's performance all the more disappointing. His batting average has been solid, but his power has been quiet. He hit a tying three-run home run against KIA Tigers on the 13th to help end the team's losing streak, but that was his first home run in 19 games.

Starting from that game, he has been hitting over .500 in five consecutive games. Diaz said Ju Ja-wook's advice was a great help, with the key being letting go of the desire for home runs.

Ju Ja-wook said, "He seemed to be worried a lot. I told him many times that he shouldn't worry about what people are saying or what others around him are saying. He's really trying hard to show his worth and survive, but it seems like he's getting very frustrated, so I told him, 'You don't need anything big. Just hit it 50 meters. If you do that, you'll create better contact.' " It was practical advice: rather than focusing on home runs, even hitting the ball over the infield can result in a hit, and good contact will eventually come.

Although Ju Ja-wook is leading the league this season with a .357 batting average, offering advice to last year's batting double crown winner was delicate. "I don't think I'm at the level where I can give such advice to Diaz," he said, but added, "Diaz was struggling so much. How lonely must he have felt? That's why I approached him and tried to lighten his mood."

Coincidentally, since then, Diaz has become a completely different hitter. Starting from the game on the 13th, he has recorded a hit in every game, and today marked his first five-hit game since debuting in the KBO League. He added five RBIs, moving into a tie for third place in that category.

With Diaz's resurgence, Samsung snapped a four-game losing streak and went 4-1 over their last five games, erasing the gap with first-place KT Wiz. During this period, the team led the league in home runs (13) and runs scored (50), while ranking second in batting average (.357).

This ultimately shows that Samsung can only take off if Diaz wakes up.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original