SSG Landers left-hander prospect Eui-san Jeon hit his first home run after being recently called up to the first team and led the team to victory 안전놀이터. As injuries and sluggishness overlapped, he shook off the regrets of the difficult first half and finished preparing to turn the bat vigorously again.
SSG won 7-5 in Game 10 of the season against Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 26th. After washing away the regret of the 1-10 defeat the previous day, they maintained an absolute advantage of 7 wins and 3 losses in the season against Doosan.
The road to victory was not smooth. In the bottom of the 7th inning, with a 3-2 lead, Doosan lost the lead to 3-5 with a blown save by Noh Kyung-eun, the setup man he trusted in defense.
However, SSG immediately succeeded in reversing the attack in the top of the 8th inning. After a hit by lead hitter Kim Kang-min, Ha Jae-hoon’s ground home run instantly tied the game at 5-5 and boosted momentum.
Even before the afterglow of Ha Jae-hoon’s ground home run went away, Jeon Ui-san came out as a solver. Jeon Eui-san hit a solo home run over the right-middle fence against Doosan sidearm Park Chi-guk. In the full count, he countered the 134km changeup on the 7th pitch with a perfect swing.
Eui-san Jeon, after confirming that the ball had gone over the fence, raised his right arm and did not hide his joy. After hitting his third home run of the season against Kiwoom Heroes on June 3, he experienced a thrilling taste in two and a half months and laid the foundation for his escape from the slump.
Jeon Uisan’s activities continued. In the top of the 9th inning when SSG was leading 6-5 on thin ice, with one out and bases loaded, Doosan closer Cheol-Won Jeong walked and scored an extra point.
SSG held on to the two-run lead built on Jeon Eui-san’s one home run and one push-off walk to the end and won Saturday night. Sando Jeon also gained confidence with his first home run after returning to the first team on the 18th.
After the game, Eui-san Jeon said shyly, “I thought the home run in the top of the 8th inning was going to go over because it hit the bat so well.”
“It seems that the parts prepared for the Futures League are showing up well in terms of performance, and the sense of hitting continues to rise,” he said. It wasn’t great,” he said.
Jeon Eui-san made a surprise performance with a batting average of 0.249 (60 hits in 241 bats), 13 home runs, 45 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.797 in 77 games last year, which was his debut season for the first team. SSG helped achieve the first ‘wire-to-wire’ combined championship in KBO history.
Further growth was expected this year, but it suffered unexpected growth pains. In 38 games in the first half, he fell into a slump with a batting average of 0.192 (19 hits in 99 at-bats), 3 home runs and 16 RBIs. At the end of June, he had a difficult time overlapping with a hamstring injury.
Fortunately, Jeon Eui-san is smoothly finding the normal hitting pace with four consecutive hits from the LG Twins match on the 19th to the Doosan match on the 26th. Above all, the emptying of ‘greed’ that director Kim Won-hyung emphasized is showing results.
On the 26th, before the match against Doosan, manager Kim Won-hyung said, “I always talk about Jeon Eui-san, and it gets better if I’m not greedy. When I look at the bad times this season, I think I’ve become greedy. The fastball is late and the bat comes out at a fast timing for breaking balls.” “I think if Jeon Eui-san puts down his greed little by little, he will hit a lot and his batting average will go up. If he gains confidence, the count fight will be better,” he emphasized.
Jeon Eui-san also looked back, saying, “I gave up my greed and took the hitting point a little further forward, so it seems like a good hit came out.”
He also expressed his determination, saying, “It is also helpful to establish my own strike zone, think about the zone, and do a lot of batting training.”