He found a new team less than a week after he was notified of his release. Just as he dramatically escaped from obscurity after nine years as a professional, can a new team write a drama.
Infielder Kang Jin-sung (31), who was recently released from SSG, will make a fresh start for Kiwoom. Kang Jin-sung uploaded the Kiwoom logo on his SNS on the 10th and wrote, “Thank you for the opportunity. I will work hard. Let’s go Heroes.”
Kang’s baseball career was truly turbulent. After joining the NC Dinosaurs in 2012, Kang was considered a “talented hitter who can grow into a big hitter,” but he needed nine years to become a starting pitcher.
Kang Jin-seong finally escaped from obscurity in 2020. He played a big role in NC’s first combined championship by playing in 121 games with a batting average of .309, on-base percentage of .351, and a slugging percentage of .463 with 12 home runs, 70 RBIs and nine steals. In the Korean Series against Doosan held that year, he played in all six games with a batting average of .304 (7 hits in 23 at-bats) and three RBIs, displaying better-than-expected performance.
However, Kang Jin-sung, who appeared in 124 games in 2021 and slowed down with a batting average of .249, seven home runs, 38 RBIs, and nine steals, also committed 13 errors in defense, failing to show a stable appearance. Just in time, NC signed a six-year contract with national outfielder Park Gun-woo in the FA market after the 2021 season, and an unexpected transfer was made as Doosan pointed out Kang Jin-sung as Park Gun-woo’s FA compensation player.
Kang Jin-seong, who played for 10 years in NC alone, played in 40 games for Doosan in 2022, but had to accept the disastrous result of batting .163 with one homer, eight RBIs and four steals, and eventually wore an SSG uniform in May last year when he was traded one-on-one with right-hander Jungwoo Kim. Kang Jin-seong, who steadily got a chance to play after moving to SSG, showed a solid performance as a backup hitter, leaving a batting average of .261 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 58 games. 토토사이트
Things were different this year, however. Kang had a slump of just two RBIs and no batting average of .185 in 16 games. SSG gave priority to young players who can play at first base, including Ko Myung-joon and Jeon Ui-san. Jeon had a batting average of .088 with one homer and three RBIs in 34 games, while Ko had a batting average of .250 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs in 106 games. Kang’s last time playing in the first team this season was against Samsung in Incheon on June 5, and the result was no hit in two at-bats.
Currently, SSG’s game schedule for this season has ended. SSG, which had its first game of deciding fifth place with KT, ended its regular season in sixth place by losing to KT 3-4.
SSG quickly started organizing its squad and notified a total of 10 players, including Kang Jin-seong, of the release on the 5th. At the time, SSG said, “We delivered our intention to release to a total of 10 players, including five pitchers, including Ko Hyo-joon and Park Min-ho, and five fielders, including Kang Jin-seong and Choi Kyung-mo.”
Among them, Kang Jin-seong quickly built a new nest. He reported that he joined Kiwoom less than a week after receiving the notification of his release. At Kiwoom this year, Choi Joo-hwan was the most first baseman and hit .257 with 13 home runs and 84 RBIs in 130 games. Choi Joo-hwan is still unclear as he can exercise his FA rights after the end of this season. For Kiwoom, it was necessary to prepare for the preliminary power. It is unclear whether Kang Jin-seong will be able to leap to the starting lineup at Kiwoom right now, but if he proves his competitiveness with his bat, unexpected opportunities may come.
