The 2024 Doosan Cleanup Trio initiative is Yang Seok-hwan, Kim Jae-hwan, and Yang Eui-ji.
Kim Jae-hwan (right) and Yang Eui-ji
Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop (47) of professional baseball places left-hitting slugger Kim Jae-hwan (35) at number 4, and right-handed hitters Yang Seok-hwan (32) and Yang Eui-ji (36) stand in front of Kim Jae-hwan in the ‘right, left, right’ position. The ‘clean-up trio’ is seen as the framework of the batting lineup for the 2024 season.
First of all, director Lee’s plan is more than 50% complete.
On the 30th of last month, Yang Seok-hwan signed a contract with Doosan to remain as a free agent (FA) for up to 7.8 billion won for 4+2 years.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop welcomed Yang Seok-hwan’s stay more than anyone else.
Yang Seok-hwan laughed, “After signing the contract, I called the director. The director’s voice was really nice.”
Seok-Hwan Yang, who was traded from LG Twins to Doosan in 2021, posted a batting average of 0.267, 69 home runs, and 236 RBI over the past three years (2021-2023).
During this period, he ranked 3rd in home runs.Only Choi Jeong (90 home runs, SSG Landers) and Jose Pirella (73 home runs, Samsung Lions) hit more home runs than Yang Seok-hwan.
With Yang Seok-hwan remaining, Doosan succeeded in establishing a central batting line that was not inferior to other teams.
Seok-Hwan Yang, contract to remain as a free agent with Doosan
The remaining task is Kim Jae-hwan’s rebound.
Kim Jae-hwan left for the United States on the 25th of last month.
This is to train with Kang Jung-ho, who plays in the KBO League and Major League and currently runs a baseball academy.
Kim Jae-hwan accepted Coach Lee Seung-yeop’s request and joined the finishing camp held from November 1st to 23rd.It is unusual for a key player to complete the final training camp.
Jaehwan Kim recorded 44 home runs and 133 RBIs in 2018, winning titles in two categories and becoming the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the regular season.
However, since then, the number of home runs has decreased to 15 in 2019, 30 in 2020, 27 in 2021, and 23 in 2022, and only 10 this year.
His batting average was 0.220, the lowest since he became a starter.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop, a former ‘national hitter’ who played in Japanese professional baseball for eight years and holds the record for the most home runs (467) in Korean professional baseball, served as ‘Kim Jae-hwan’s dedicated instructor’ at this year’s closing camp.
Coach Lee said, “I talked to Kim Jae-hwan more during this closing camp than during the entire regular season this year,” and added, “We went through the process of getting to know each other, including Kim Jae-hwan sharing his concerns and diagnosing problems together. The veteran held the finishing camp.” “Completing the race is not easy. I’m really grateful to Kim Jae-hwan,” he said.
He continued, “There were definitely results. I could see Kim Jae-hwan struggling. It was probably harder than it looked.” He continued, “The amount of training is not everything, but it takes a lot of training for the body to remember good posture. “I expected that the bad memories that had bothered Kim Jae-hwan would have disappeared while he was overcoming his limitations.” 슬롯