Superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on a new field called 50 (homer)-50 (stealing), while Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs will be close to winning the Rookie of the Year award. Japanese baseball fans are always happy watching the Big League.
On the other hand, fans who expected Korean Major Leaguers to perform in the upcoming season are deeply disappointed. Most of the players suffered from injuries and sluggish performances, but Korean players have not been able to play a single game in September, which is nearing the end of the regular season.
Expectations were high up until the opening of this season. Lee Jung-hoo, 26, who conquered the Korean pro baseball league, won the highest contract of 113 million U.S. dollars for six years, and wore the San Francisco Giants uniform. Even if Ohtani had won 700 million dollars and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers) had won 325 million dollars, Lee’s presence was reassuring.
“The eldest” Ryu Hyun-jin (37) left the United States after announcing his return to the KBO League for the first time in 11 years, but Ko Woo-seok (26) joined the team, raising expectations. Ko Woo-seok signed a contract for a relatively low amount of up to $9.4 million for three years, but it was believed that it would be easier to adapt to the San Diego Padres uniform belonging to Kim Ha-sung (29), a Korean senior.
Bae Ji-hwan (25, Pittsburgh Pirates), who showed his potential last year, was also looking higher in the second full-time season, and Choi Ji-man (33), who had been slowing down for a while, also sought a leap forward.
It was definitely a season full of expectations, but the expectations gradually faded after the opening.
The injury was problematic. Lee, who had been calmly adapting to the big league, was forced out of the season due to his shoulder injury in 37 games, which was a negative sign. Lee, who underwent shoulder surgery, will not be able to return to the ground until next season.
Ko was rarely invited to play in the big leagues. He failed to give trust at exhibition games before the season and at the “special match” held in Seoul, and eventually started the season with Triple-A. In May, he was traded to the Miami Marlins in a surprise move, and in less than a month after the trade, he received a DFA and changed his status to a minor leaguer.
He was pushed down from Triple-A to Double-A, and posted his worst pitching average of 11.12 in Double-A. Although he signed a three-year contract, he will not be surprised if he returns to the KBO League next season.
Kim Ha-sung, who was the first Asian infielder to “peak” with a gold glove last year, also went down in his fourth season. Unlike last year, when he filled in many positions, he was recognized as the main shortstop this season, but his errors increased and his batting performance fell.
Moreover, he suffered a rare injury. As he suffered a shoulder injury late last month, Kim Ha-sung was listed on the injured list for the first time since his advance to the Major League in 2021. He was most likely to return early this month as he is not known to have suffered a major injury, but he has yet to return even a week after the start of September. 토토사이트
Bae, who was expected to play well in his second year, also had both injuries and sluggishness. Due to a hip injury during an exhibition game, he failed to join the opening entry, and was called to the big league only in May. However, it was not easy for a rookie in his second year to get a starting position and failed to get a chance, so Bae went back and forth between the minor leagues and the big leagues.
Although he received many opportunities in August, he was notified of his minor trip again at the end of last month as his batting average was still struggling with poor batting in the 10% range.
Choi failed to play in Triple-A and tried to transfer through opt-out, but was not called by any team. As Choi is in his mid-30s, his return to the big leagues has become a long way off.
The Korean Major Leaguers, who once had plenty of food and were not indifferent due to Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Ha-sung’s “quality,” are enjoying their quietest time in recent years, however, amid a flurry of negative developments.
