“If you’re in good physical condition, you have to hit center field. Basically, you have a good (hitting) mechanism. You seem to have contact skills.”
Lotte Giants will have its 2024 season center batting line reorganized. Ahn Chi-hong, who played a role as a center hitter for the team for many years, moved to Hanwha Eagles. Victor Reyes (29), a foreign hitter from Venezuela, holds the new key to center batting line.
Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung also praised Reyes’ performance in offense and defense and expressed his intention to use him as a center fielder and a center hitter at the same time.
Lotte signed a 950,000-dollar contract with outfielder Victor Reyes in the winter transfer market, including 700,000 guaranteed amount and 250,000 incentive. Reyes, who is tall at 1m96 and weighs 87kg, is a switch-hitter for right-handed batter and can play all outfield positions. He played in 394 games during five seasons in the Major League.
Reyes went through the minor leagues under the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks. He made his big league debut with the Detroit Tigers in the 2018 season. In particular, he showed promise in the 2019 season by batting .304/3 homers and 25 RBIs/OPS .767.
However, Reyes did not become a starting member in the big league since then. However, he played 1,280 times at bat for five seasons and steadily entered the big league. He posted a batting average of 0.264/OPS of 0.673/16 home runs/107 RBIs overall in the Major League.
In the 2023 season, he played as a central hitter with a batting average of 0.279/20 homers and 83 RBIs/OPS in 128 games at Triple-A Club under the Chicago White Sox. In the minor leagues, he had a batting average of 0.298/46 homers and 413 RBIs/OPS in 796 games 마카오토토도메인.
Lotte considered Reyes to have contact capabilities and strong batting production capabilities based on his simple swing. In addition, Lotte explained, “He has excellent defensive skills, including strong shoulders and wide defensive range, and has the advantage of being able to play in all outfield positions.”
Lotte General Manager Park Joon-hyuk also said, “We hope that Reyes will quickly adapt to the KBO league and play a central role in the team’s batting lineup through his athletic ability and attitude to focus on baseball.”
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung, who met at Lotte’s first spring camp at the Dedeo Sports Complex in Guam on the 1st, also praised Reyes’ performance and expressed his intention to use it as a key power.
Regarding Reyes’ position, head coach Kim Tae-hyung said, “If our foreign hitter is in good physical condition now, he should play center field enough. I think we need to see him play because he has an injury in his hamstring,” adding, “If his leg is bad, he will have to go to left field or decide depending on the situation.”
Then, he gave positive feedback on Reyes’ batting ability. “I watched the video and basically the mechanism of (hitting) is good. It is all good. I am not a long-distance hitter. Since he is a long-distance hitter and has strong skills, he said he would be able to garner more points in his slugging capability.”
“The batting lineup now has a sense of weight. The most important thing is how you come and put on the first button. But I think you have good contact skills. Reyes has a big role. It’s much better to be in the center of the lineup,” he said, expressing expectations on the destructive power of the lineup, which has grown due to Reyes’ joining.
Lotte is also helping Reyes quickly adapt by recruiting Spanish interpreters who worked for other teams. Reyes, who joined his first spring camp in Guam on Monday, seemed somewhat shy and quiet, but he tried to adapt himself to the team by calmly conducting batting training. Kim also closely watched Reyes’ batting performance, showing keen interest.
If Reyes becomes the center hitter in Lotte’s batting lineup for the 24th season, Ahn Chi-hong’s absence, who left for Hanwha, is expected to be able to fill. In addition, Lotte’s thirst, which has suffered for years with the weight of the batting lineup weakened amid the sluggish performance of foreign batters, can be quenched.
