Will the “Duck High School Genius hitter” finally show off his talents on the professional stage? Na Seung-yeop (22) of the Lotte Giants is showing off his long-range hitting tools in the second half of the year.
As of the 29th, Na Seung-yeop played in 73 games this season and posted a batting average of 0.316 (78 hits in 247 at-bats), five home runs, 40 RBIs and 39 points, and an on-base percentage of 0.411 slugging percentage of 0.498 and an OPS of 0.909.
After being discharged from the military at Sangmu at the end of last year, Na took the main first baseman position in the exhibition game with a batting average of 0.385 (five hits in 13 times at bat) and one homerun. However, Haeme was seen in the first division stage at the beginning, and eventually moved down to the second division with only a batting average of 0.200 in six games in March.
Since mid-April, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung distanced himself from the team, saying, “I haven’t received a report that I’m so good (in the second division), but he finally returned to the first division stage in late April. After going through a hard time in the second division, Na Seung-yeop continued to show his bat skills and contribute to Lotte’s batting lineup.
Na Seung-yeop, who started preheating with a monthly batting average of 0.321 (25 hits in 78 times at bat) in May, also helped his team rank No. 1 in monthly win rate with a batting average of 0.322 (29 hits in 90 times at bat) in June. Except for Victor Reyes, Na is still struggling with a batting average of 0.339 even in July, when Lotte’s batting average was generally in a slump.
What stands out in particular is the number of home runs. Na has been showing good performance in 16 games with a batting average of 0.340 (18 hits in 53 times at bat), especially as he has already hit four home runs. This is a tie for fourth after Kang Min-ho (Samsung, 8), Lee Sung-kyu (Samsung), and Kim Do-young (KIA, 5 hits). This is hard to believe that he hit just one home run in 57 games in the first half. 메이저놀이터
Na Seung-yeop, who started producing home runs in earnest by hitting home runs in two consecutive games against Daegu Samsung on the 20th and 21st, also hit two arches in the three away games against NC held from the 26th to the 28th. He hit seven hits in 11 at-bats (0.636 batting average) in the Changwon series, and his batting average for the season rose from 0.301 to 0.316.
It is not enough to call him a “big shot,” but the growing number of Na’s homers is also hopeful for Lotte, which has challenged his potential. Na, a graduate of Sunrin Middle School and Deoksu High School, was selected by Lotte as the 11th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft. Lotte chose him after initially missing the first round of the draft by declaring his challenge to the Major League. Lotte gave him a down payment of 500 million won, which gave him high expectations.
Playing in 60 games in the first year of joining the pro baseball league in 2021, Na experienced trial and error with a batting average of 0.204 (23 hits in 113 times at bat) and two homers, 10 RBIs, 16 runs, and one stolen base OPS of 0.563. He failed to make the first team roster in 2022, before joining the Sangmu Baseball Organization in early May. In the military, he increased his slugging capacity through bulk-up. He maintained 80 to 81 kilograms before joining the military, but he increased the weight to 88 to 89 kilograms.
As his physique grew, he also paid attention to slugging. “I didn’t have any intention of hitting (long-hitting) in the beginning,” Na said in an interview at the beginning of the season. “I had some (long-hitting) in the second year (2022), but I couldn’t see it in the beginning last year.” “After thinking about it, I tried to get too many hits when I hit. I tried to hit lightly with (the hitting point) in the background,” he said. “I changed it completely from the second half. I tried to hit aggressively in the front.”
Although there were trials and errors in the beginning of his return to the first team, he did not show any significant improvement in slugging. However, after adjusting to some extent, Na is producing home runs in earnest.
