'345 hits to reach 3,000': Once the KBO's all-time hits leader, now his "plate appearances" are a bigger issue than his salary... A look at the outfielders across all 10 teams

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Son Ah-seop (38) was, just two years ago, the player closest to becoming the first in KBO League history to reach 3,000 hits. He now needs only 345 more hits. However, before he can fill that number, a new challenge has emerged: whether he can secure enough plate appearances to accumulate those hits.

The Doosan Bears notified Son Ah-seop of their decision not to re-sign him on the 19th. This came just six months after he was traded from the Hanwha Eagles in April.

On June 20, 2024, Son hit his 2,505th career hit against Doosan, surpassing Park Yong-taek's record of 2,504 hits to set a new KBO all-time hits record. In the previous season, 2023, he won his first batting title with a .339 batting average and 187 hits. At that time, he was 495 hits away from 3,000. Considering his pace of producing at least 150 hits every season from 2016 to 2023, reaching the historic 3,000-hit mark within about three years was seen as a realistic goal.

But that hope vanished in just one month. In July of that year, Son injured his left posterior cruciate ligament after colliding with a teammate during defensive play. As a result, his 2024 season ended with just 79 games and 95 hits, causing his streak of at least 100 hits per season, which had continued since 2010, to stop at 14 consecutive years.

His standing gradually became unstable. The following year, NC signed Choi Won-jun (29, KT Wiz) and Lee Woo-seong (32, NC), moving to reorganize their outfield depth. Son was traded to Hanwha in July 2025. It was his first trade since turning pro. At the time, Son himself admitted, "I felt my position was becoming narrower."

The overall stats for the 2025 season, during which he had been determined to prove himself, were not bad: a .288 batting average (107 hits in 372 at-bats), 7 home runs, 50 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.710 across 111 games. His FA grade was also Grade C, which carries the least financial burden.

However, the winter FA market's assessment was cold. He is a corner outfielder whose defensive versatility has declined and who has not hit double-digit home runs since 2020. His right field defensive innings dropped from 894⅔ in 2022 to 314 in 2025. In a situation where corner outfielders are expected to provide power hitting and designated hitters are required to have even stronger offensive output, the scope of utilization for the 38th-year-old Son felt ambiguous.

Ultimately, Son signed with Hanwha on a one-year contract worth 100 million won in January this year, becoming the last among FA candidates to reach an agreement. It did not end there. Son failed to secure a solid role at Hanwha and was traded to Doosan, where he appeared in only 54 games with 176 plate appearances. His regular season stats this year were a .236 batting average (37 hits in 157 at-bats), 1 home run, 15 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.581. His career hit total stopped at 2,655.

The process of finding a new team also does not appear easy. The No. 1 KT, No. 2 Samsung Lions, and No. 4 LG Twins already have solid outfield lineups, while the No. 3 KIA Tigers and No. 8 NC may have concerns about their center fielders but have sufficient resources to utilize players as corner outfielders or designated hitters. For the remaining teams, it is not easy to allocate many plate appearances to a veteran corner outfielder/designated hitter whose defensive versatility and power hitting have declined.

Even for Doosan, which released Son, there are young outfield resources who need more opportunities in the future, including Kim Min-seok (22, 519 plate appearances), Kim Dae-han (26, 140 plate appearances), and Ryu Seung-min (22, 107 plate appearances). While other teams' lineups may change depending on foreign player re-signings, FAs, and trades, signing Son would require sharing a significant number of plate appearances that currently belong to existing players.

Of course, this does not mean Son has nowhere to go. He could still be an option for teams looking to strengthen their left-handed pinch-hitting or designated hitter roles, or for teams that need the experience of a veteran. However, he is 345 hits away from 3,000. Even if he adds 120 hits per season, it would take nearly three years.

Simply extending his active career and securing consistent plate appearances sufficient to challenge for 3,000 hits are entirely different matters. For Son, who will turn 39 next year, the most important number is ultimately not his salary, but his number of plate appearances.

In 2024, the focus was on when Son would achieve the KBO's first 3,000 hits. Two years later, the remaining question for Son, who will be 39 next year, is which team can provide him with enough plate appearances to continue that challenge.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original