For the second consecutive year, the batting champion rarely struck out due to his overwhelming contact ability and pioneering vision. This makes Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants) who showed strong competition with the Giants even more impressive.
After Lee Jung-hoo was out early in the season due to injury, no player who could be a match for Luis Arraez (27, San Diego Padres) in strikeout ability has disappeared. Arraez is approaching a new era in the Major League Baseball.
MLB.COM, the official website of MLB, said on the 11th (Korea Standard Time), “Araez has not struck out in 26 consecutive games,” adding, “He has been avoiding strikeouts in 120 at-bats since August 11th.”
Arraez is the third-best strikeout in a row after Tony Gwynn, who had 170 at-bats without strikeouts in 1995, and Juan Pierre, who had 147 consecutive strikeouts in 2004. He is the fifth longest since 1961 when the league expanded.
San Diego coach Mike Shildt said, “He has tremendous bat control ability and can hit virtually any ball,” adding, “He can hit the ball that comes into the middle and can hit a ball that is 4 inches below the knee or 3 inches away from home plate.”
This is also the reason why San Diego gave up prospects and brought him in through a 4-1 trade, including Ko Woo-seok, during this season.
Shildt added, “The technique of hitting the ball is really impressive. He knows really well what he is doing and what the pitcher is trying to do.”
Despite the trade this season, Araez ranks first in batting average in 136 games with a batting average of 0.318. Although she moved from the American League in 2022 and the NL last year, she is aiming for the first hitter position for three consecutive years.
He did not just avoid strikeouts. During the period, Arraez had a batting average of 0.383. Although he has walked only 22 throughout this season, he has demonstrated his true value by displaying outstanding hitting ability. He struck out only 26 during this season. 먹튀검증
Lee Jung-hoo’s ability seems even more surprising. Lee Jung-hoo had a fierce competition with Araez at the beginning of the season as if there was a match to see who would strike out the least. At one point, he ranked first in the NL with a low strikeout rate of less than 10 percent. The U.S. media Just Baseball also said in April, “Lee Jung-hoo made far more contacts than Araez, the eternal batting champion.”
He ended the season early due to injury, and although he had some regrets about his debut season, he proved that Lee’s contact ability can be found in the big leagues. His strikeout rate was only 8.2 percent and his swing and miss rate was only 9.6 percent. Currently, Araez’s strikeout rate is 4.2 percent, far ahead of Lee, but ahead of runner-up Steven Kwan (Claverland Guardians, 9.6 percent). In terms of swing and miss rate, Araez ranks first with 7 percent, while Lee boasts of ranking third after Kwan (8.1 percent).
Despite playing only 37 games due to injury this season, this is one of the main reasons why Lee Jung-hoo is still evaluated as a key player for next season.
