“As expected of a World Series shortstop.”

A match between Kiwoom Heroes and Samsung Lions in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 20th. In the top of the 9th inning, Edison Russell drew attention by performing a bare-handed catch in which he handled Gong Min-kyu’s batted ball with his bare hands.

Kim Hui-jip, who watched Russell’s defense from third base, said, “The 9th bare hand catch was really cool. Russell is really good at catching. He has to catch accurately so that the next play goes smoothly, and he was really good at it. He smiled안전놀이터, saying, “I think he deserves a shortstop in the World Series.”

On this day, Russell saved Kiwoom from the sweep crisis by playing an active role not only in defense but also in attack with 2 hits in 3 at-bats, 1 walk, 1 RBI and 1 point. In the second game against Samsung on the 19th, although he lost, he also enthused Kiwoom fans with a tie that led the match to extra time.

After returning to Korea, Russell is smoothly settling into the KBO League.

Russell came to Kiwoom in July 2020 as a replacement foreign hitter for Taylor Motor, who was sluggish. However, at that time, Russell recorded a batting average of 0.254, 62 hits, 2 home runs and 31 RBIs in 65 games, and eventually left Korea without being able to renew the contract with Kiwoom. For Kiwoom, who expected the presence of the main shortstop who led the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series in 2016, it was clear that the record was disappointing.

After that, he showed off his firepower properly in the Mexican League. He joined Acereros de Monclova, a team in the Mexican League, and recorded a batting average of 0.319 and 8 runs OPS of 0.900 in 66 games in the 2021 season. In the 2022 season, he played the role of a central hitter with a batting average of 0.348, 24 homers and an OPS of 1.120 in 80 games.

There could have been concerns, but Russell turned them into expectations for the future. He has played in 13 of the 16 games the team has played so far, with a batting average of 0.340, 16 hits, 10 RBIs and 5 points. He hasn’t hit a home run yet, but he’s doing his best in other areas.

The most satisfying part is the defense. He didn’t commit a single error at shortstop, where he had a lot of tricky batting balls. Even if it is not a hobi on the 20th, he is showing an active performance worthy of the name of ‘World Series shortstop’ by handling any batted ball neatly. During the 2020 season, no Russell committed 12 errors in 65 games.

In fact, Russell, who had a slightly lower-than-expected performance with a batting average of 0.235, 8 hits, 6 RBIs and 4 points in 14 games during the demonstration game, but entered the regular season and proved why Kiwoom brought him back.

Currently, the only foreign players with a higher batting average than Russell are kt Anthony Alford (0.423) and LG Austin James Dean (0.340). He is also not being pushed back in defensive competition with shortstops from nine clubs.

Russell, who shows off his presence in karate, brought him back because of Kiwoom.