*This content was translated by AI.View Original
The team that finished second last year has fallen to ninth place this season. While many factors contributed, the bullpen remained unsettled, and the defense recorded the most errors in the league, causing difficulties throughout the season that ultimately could not be overcome. To resolve these issues, the Hanwha Eagles appointed Ryu Ji-hyun (55) as their new manager.
Hanwha will hold an inauguration ceremony and press conference for the new manager on the 16th at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark. Manager Ryu is expected to attend, outlining his initial goals and discussing future contract details.
Hanwha completed a three-year contract worth a total of 2 billion won with Manager Ryu on the 13th. Following the expiration of their contract terms, the team naturally parted ways with Manager Kim Kyung-moon (68) and General Manager Son Hyuk (53), while simultaneously promoting Seok Jang-hyun (52) to general manager—the club’s first internal promotion—and signing him on.
During the 2024 season, Hanwha found hope with the arrival of Manager Kim Kyung-moon. Last year, they were able to challenge for the championship by fielding a top-tier one-two punch of Cody Ponce (Toronto) and Ryan Weiss (Houston). It was their first appearance in the Korea Series in 19 years.
However, these players moved to Major League Baseball this year, and the team failed to fill the void, facing difficulties from the start of the season. Last year, with Ponce and Weiss leading the way, Ryu Hyun-jin and Moon Dong-ju stably led the starting rotation, and the bullpen performed reliably without significant burden. But as the foundation wavered, the back end inevitably became weak.
Newly joined Owen White and Wang Yencheng, along with Ryu Hyun-jin, managed to hold up well, but Moon Dong-ju suffered an early season-ending injury, and the underperformance of foreign pitchers continued.
Although the bullpen was utilized more aggressively, Kim Seo-hyun and Jung Woo-ju failed to contribute at all, unlike last year. The situation was even more painful given that they had already traded away relievers Kim Beom-soo, Lee Tae-yang (both to KIA), and Han Seung-hyeok (to KT).
Nevertheless, Hanwha used their bullpen for the most innings among the 10th teams this season, totaling 610⅔ innings. Hanwha was the only team whose bullpen workload exceeded 600 innings. While some pitchers moved between the starting rotation and the bullpen, the results did not yield significant effectiveness.
Defensive issues were also significant. This season, Hanwha ranked first in errors with 110. The shock was even greater because they had recorded the fewest errors last year. It was too large a gap to attribute solely to the butterfly effect stemming from problems in the starting rotation.
Base running did not perform well either. Hanwha’s stolen base count this season was 76, ranking third from the bottom (third lowest). With nothing clearly going well, they ultimately had no choice but to accept a ninth-place finish.
The reason for Manager Ryu Ji-hyun’s appointment is also embedded in this context. New General Manager Seok Jang-hyun explained in a phone call with StarNews, “The direction of baseball the manager pursues is initially centered on pitching and defense, with an emphasis on base running as well.” He added, “We felt that we needed to re-establish these areas, and that significant supplementation was necessary to become a truly strong team and maintain our status as a dominant force consistently.”
He continued, “In terms of our desired direction, I believed he was someone who could handle things smoothly because he has experienced many aspects, including communication skills.” He stated, “I judged that he could be quite strategic in preparing for camp and future processes, and I felt those qualities were a good fit for us.”
The autumn baseball season is currently underway. Although Hanwha is in a position where they can only watch via TV, the team is moving faster than ever. They have appointed a new manager and general manager, and retained top Asian quota player Wang Yencheng. Furthermore, they have decided to send promising young players who underperformed this season—Jung Woo-ju, Hwang Jun-seo, Park Jun-young, and Kang Geon-woo—to Japan’s Next Base program.
Today is expected to provide hints about Hanwha’s future direction through Manager Ryu Ji-hyun’s remarks.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
