It is theoretically correct that teams using Jamsil, which boasts the widest standard among domestic baseball stadiums, lose in hitting power. However, Doosan did not avoid this handicap and rather enjoyed head-to-head matches.
A player with overwhelming power who just skips anything in Jamsil, a player who creates a lot of double hits that cut left and right, or a player who can increase the slugging rate by one base using quick feet. was This played a huge role in building Doosan’s dynasty.
In fact, from 2015 to 2021, Doosan was always a team that was at the top of the bat. The team with the highest team slugging rate during this period was 2018 Doosan (.486), 2016 Doosan (.473) 3rd, and 2017 Doosan (.459) 10th. Paradoxically, Doosan, which uses a wide Jamsil, was the only team that ranked in the top 10 in slugging percentage during that period three times. But in 2022, things were different.
Doosan, who struggled with the continued outflow of key hitters, eventually reached its limit in the batting line last year. Doosan’s team batting average last year was 0.255, lower than the league average (.260), and its slugging percentage (.365) was only 8th in the league. As the on-base percentage also fell, the team OPS (0.689) fell to ninth place. However, the team was not as good as before. The attack flow had no choice but to be cut off.
At Doosan, manager Lee Seung-yeop, the legendary home run king representing the KBO League, took office. Of course, Lee’s overall baseball style is more like something other than ‘hot long-hit baseball’. He rather tends to focus on details. However, in order for the team’s batting line to gain strength and improve the team’s performance, more long hits are needed. Director Lee also tried to capture the training scenes of some promising giants. 안전놀이터
However, prospects are still variables, and in the end, the main hitters have to pull them from the front. And Doosan has players with solid records. The main characters are Kim Jae-hwan (35), a left-handed hitter who represents the league, and Yang Eui-ji (36), who made a comeback with Doosan this year. As it is certain that they will be in the center of the batting line, there is a high possibility that the explosiveness of Doosan’s scoring power will largely depend on their long hits.
Kim Jae-hwan, who signed a four-year free agent (FA) contract for a total of 11.5 billion won ahead of the 2022 season, is one of the players that directly contributed to the team’s slugging rate decline last year. Kim Jae-hwan, who has a career slugging percentage of 0.528 while using Jamsil as his home all his life, only had a slugging percentage of 0.460 in 128 games last year. His 23 home runs also fell short of expectations, but his base batting average (.248) was also poor.
However, he has a certain ability, and if he rebounds as he is still highly regarded in both strength and swing technique, it is highly likely that he will lead the rise in Doosan slugging percentage. There are also elements that can expect a normal swing as he put his hand on his elbow, which was sore.
Yang Eui-ji, who made a comeback with her parents by signing a contract for 4+2 years for a total of 15.2 billion won, has higher expectations in that it is a power that she did not have last year. He is widely regarded as the best catcher in the league, but Yang Eui-ui is able to rise to the ranks of all-time great catchers because he is as good on offense as on defense. Eui-ji Yang’s career slugging percentage is 0.503, which is the level of a key gun for most teams. Yang Eui-ji hit a total of 182 homers over the past eight years, which was the 6th most in the league during the same period and the 3rd highest slugging percentage by a Korean player. Yang Eui-ji is not just a catcher.
The key to both players is their health. As he is in his mid-thirties, he cannot be free from the word ‘senescence’. It is also a word that will definitely stick if your grades drop, especially if your slugging power falls. Doosan’s large-scale investment can be completed successfully only when it overcomes this. Attention is focusing on whether he will be able to reestablish the pride of the bear batting line, which was lost last year, by firmly grasping coach Lee Seung-yeop’s batting line idea.