Can Lotte Giants’ Choo Jae-hyun (25) survive the fierce outfield competition within the team.
Choo Jae-hyun, who wore the Kiwoom Heroes uniform as the 28th overall pick in the second third round in the 2018 rookie draft, was traded to Lotte in 2020. Lotte gave up Jeon Byung-woo and Cha Jae-yong to Kiwoom and made a 1-2 trade to embrace Choo Jae-hyun.
Choo Jae-hyun, who entered Busan, started receiving opportunities in earnest from the 2021 season. His early performance was not bad. In the first half of that season, Choo became Lotte’s main outfielder with a batting average of 0.288 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 48 games. He excelled in the first half, but his performance declined in the second half with a batting average of around .211 (or .211). His final performance was a batting average of 0.252 with five homers and 26 RBIs in 95 games and an OPS of 0.702.
In the 2022 season, Choo Jae-hyun received an opportunity in the right field, which became Muju after Son Ah-seop moved to the NC Dinos, but he did not show an impressive performance. He only hit .224 with a batting average of .611 with five RBIs and an OPS of .355 with 30 RBIs in 59 games in the Futures League, but he hardly used his strength in the first team.
Choo Jae-hyun joined the Sangmu Baseball Team after the end of the 2023 season. Choo, who began his military service in January, spent the 2023 season in the Futures League. His performance was consistent. Choo hit .324 with three home runs, 35 RBIs and an OPS of 0.889 in 53 games for Sangmu in the 2023 season.
This season, he spent his time in Sangmu until July before being discharged from the military on July 15. He was called up to the first team on July 18, three days after completing his mandatory military service, but only played in two games. Since then, Choo was removed from the first team on July 20, and he was not called by manager Kim Tae-hyung until the end of the season. Choo, who spent his season in the Futures League, finished the season with a batting average of 0.324 with six homers, 36 RBIs and an OPS of 0.856 in 65 games. 카지노사이트
It is unclear whether Choo Jae-hyun will be able to get a chance in the first team of the 2025 season. Lotte’s outfield is already oversaturated. Hwang Sung-bin and Yoon Dong-hee have established themselves as key players, and if Victor Reyes succeeds in renewing his contract, the remaining position is likely to go to Reyes.
The backup competition is even fiercer. Kim Min-seok, who became the first high school graduate to have 100 hits (102 hits) despite his poor performance in the last season, is aiming at an opportunity to catch on. Cho Se-jin, who has strong slugging capability, is also holding on, and Kim Dong-hyuk and Jang Doo-sung, who have strong fast feet, are also potential competitors of Choo Jae-hyun.
In order for Choo to win the competition, he needs to clearly show his batting ability, which is his strength, to manager Kim Tae-hyung. In particular, he needs to recreate the image of � in the first half of the 2021 season, when he emerged as the next-generation outfielder of Lotte. Attention is focusing on whether Choo will be able to regain his performance three years ago and set an opportunity for the team to turn around in the 2025 season.
