We’ll be the cleanup trio.” Kim Jung-hoo, a left-handed hitting outfielder in the KBO with the Kiwoom Heroes, has moved up in the batting order to a cleanup trio instead of a table setter안전놀이터.
Kiwoom will play a three-game weekend series at home against the Lotte Giants at Gocheok Sky Dome from the 26th to the 28th. Before the first game of the three-game series on the 26th, Kiwoom head coach Hong Won-ki met with the media and talked about “signature hitter” Lee Jung-hoo. It’s about the batting order.
Lee was named in the starting lineup as the center fielder and No. 3 hitter. “Lee Jung-hoo needs to provide runs for the cleanup trio,” said Hong, “and I think he needs to show the same performance at the plate that he showed last season (this season) to help the team’s batting stagnate a bit.”
Kiwoom Heroes’ Lee Jung-hoo hits a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning of an extra-inning home game against the KIA Tigers on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Newsis].
“We need (Lee) to show his true form in the center of the lineup to gain momentum,” he said. Lee has been batting in the top of the order a lot lately.
Kim Jun-wan will lead off against Lotte. He will play left field.
“There were reports from the Futures (second team) team that he had a good on-base percentage and batting average,” Hong said of Kim, “so I thought we should make a change since the team’s batting lineup as a whole is sinking.”
The left-handed hitter has appeared in 13 games with the first team since the start of the season, batting 2-for-15 with two RBIs. His most recent first-team appearance came on April 4 against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu.
In the Futures League, he appeared in 10 games, batting 4-for-17 with one home run and nine RBIs. “It’s been our team color to harass the opposing starting pitchers to increase their pitch count and get them off the mound early, but lately we’ve been struggling to get on base,” Hong said.
Kim Jun-wan of the Kiwoom Heroes was named to the starting lineup as the left fielder and first baseman for the home game against the Lotte Giants on June 26. [Photo by IANS24 Photo DB].
Kiwoom went 1-2 in a midweek three-game series against the KT Wiz at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon. They won 3-1 on the first day of the three-game series, but lost 1-4 and 0-3 against KT on the 24th and 25th, respectively.
“Our bats aren’t hitting well, which affects our pitching and defense,” Hong said, “so we need to create more scoring chances.”