The professional baseball team of Hanwha Eagles was busier than ever at Cheongju Stadium on the 20th. Five players from the Futures team, including outfielder Lee Jin-young (27), Kwon Kwang-min (27), Euro Gyeol (24), infielder Han Kyung-bin (26), and pitcher Kim Do-bin (23), joined the first team, which significantly increased the number of players. Five more players came up, keeping the existing 28 players in the first team.
The decision was made with the goal of increasing the number of entries by five, which will take effect on March 1. “I told them to come up in advance because it will be September soon. Rather than practicing and playing games only with the Futures team, I came here and got used to it, and there were some players I’ve never seen before, but I called them to see players I haven’t seen before,” Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon said.
“These players will continue to be in this three-game series in Cheongju. If they look good (during training), we can go to the next away game in the provinces together,” coach Kim said. “There are only a few days left in September, but rather than suddenly coming, we have to come and see them in advance so that the players can adapt well.”
Ahead of the match against KIA in Daejeon on April 19, Kim had called four players including catcher Heo In-seo who was discharged from Sangmu, pitcher Kim Do-bin, outfielder Lee Jin-young and Jung An-seok to watch the training. Back then, he returned to the Futures team only for one day, but this time, he will wait and see for at least three days. 메이저놀이터
Among the five players, Lee Jin-young, a right-handed outfielder, has the most experience in playing in the first division. He had a batting average of 249 (89 hits in 358 times at bat) and 10 homers, 50 RBIs and an OPS of .738 in 121 games, the most by an individual player. Although his batting average is not high, he hit double-digit homers and garnered a lot of walks. When the Hanwha Eagles won eight consecutive games since late June last year, he served as the first batter to advance offense.
He had high expectations as the No. 1 candidate for starting center fielder this year, but his batting sense did not increase since the spring camp, and he started the season in the second division. He joined the first team in early April, but moved down to the second team in early May, and underwent surgery for a fractured left fibula, before rehabbing for two months. He returned to the Futures League game from mid-April, and in August, he posted a batting average of 364 (12 hits in 33 times at bat) with two home runs and five RBIs in nine games. He is expected to be Hanwha’s strongest additional player when he enters the expanded roster in September.
Another right-handed outfielder Euro Gyeol is also a strong candidate for the expanded entry in September. On June 4, the first game of manager Kim Kyung-moon’s appointment, he made a surprise start as the first batter’s center fielder against Suwon KT and succeeded in multi-base with one hit and one walk from four times at bat, drawing attention. Since then, he has gone down to the second team and gained experience in real games. He has played a batting average of 319 (67 hits in 210 times at bat) in 61 games in the Futures League this year, with five home runs, 36 RBIs and 10 steals, OPS.873.
Left-handed outfielder Kwon Kwang-min was called to the first team this year. After joining Hanwha in 2022 as a U-turner overseas after playing in the minor league of the Chicago Cubs, he played 98 games in the first team for two years until last year. He immediately garnered high expectations by banking on his performance, but has yet to produce a clear result. Although his performance was not remarkable in this year’s Futures League, coach Kim Kyung-moon joined the first team training to check for himself.
The name of infielder Han Kyung-bin is also notable. Han, who joined the Hanwha Eagles in May 2022 after playing for the Paju Challengers, an independent baseball team, is a resource for shortstop. Although he gained popularity as a former member of the most popular baseball entertainment program, he has yet to realize his dream of debuting in the first division. In the Hanwha Eagles, rookie Hwang Young-mook is a former member of the strongest baseball league this year, and has been a key player. As Han also showed potential with a batting average of 275 (or 112 hits in 408 times at bat) for three seasons in the Futures League, attention is focusing on how manager Kim Kyung-moon will rate.
Among pitchers, right-hander Kim Do-bin joined the main league training once again following last month. Kim, who joined the Hanwha Eagles as a pro baseball player this year after joining the Suwon Fine Eagles, is an orthodox pitcher with a physique measuring 190 centimeters and weighing 95 kilograms. Starting as a relief pitcher, Kim took lessons as a starting pitcher from late May. Using change-up as a weapon in the fastball with maximum speed of 149 kilometers per hour in the Futures League, he recorded three wins, one loss and two holds with an ERA of 3.99 strikeouts in 17 games (nine starts and 49 ⅔ innings). Despite his ups and downs in ball control, he showed off his ball power with 12.12 strikeouts per nine innings. He is expected to be the starting pitcher at the match against NC on Tuesday, drawing keen attention from fans
Hanwha used to be at the bottom of the list every September to prepare for the next season. The team has drawn attention only for its role as a “red pepper powder team” that is holding back teams that are in a race against each other. However, it is different this year. Since the match against Samsung Electronics in Daejeon on June 23, the team has achieved the best record among the 10 teams with 15 wins and 6 losses (.714 win rate) in the recent 21 games. It has already jumped into the midst of a race between the top five teams, trailing fifth-ranked SSG by 1.5 games. Unlike the past five years, September has a different meaning this year. Manager Kim Kyung-moon’s eyes are on additional players who will help the team advance to the next round.
