The Samsung Lions, who are making a fresh start under Park Jin-man, have homework to do. It is to find the starting shortstop. A super rookie’s shoulders are heavy.
Shortstop resources Kim Sang-soo (32, KT) and Oh Seon-jin (33, Hanwha), who obtained FA status after this season, each left the team. They all held the center of the infield as veterans, but not anymore.
It needs to find a new owner, a new face. It is regrettable that there is no veteran player to succeed them.
There was no clear starting shortstop in the Samsung infield this season. At least, the player with the most innings was super rookie Lee Jae-hyeon (19). He pitched 380⅓ innings. Following that, Kim Sang-soo (326⅓ innings), Lee Hae-seung (245⅓ innings), Oh Seon-jin (176⅓ innings), Kim Ji-chan (99 innings), Kang Han-ul (42⅔ innings) came out.
If you compare him to other team’s starting shortstops, you can see a big difference. SSG shortstop Seong-Han Park played 1176 innings. Following this, 스포츠토토 LG shortstop Oh Ji-hwan has over 1,000 innings, including 1167 innings, KIA Park Chan-ho 1103⅓ innings, and KT Shim Woo-jun 1048⅓ innings. However, Lee Jae-hyun, who played the most innings, is only about 1/3 of them.
Moreover, after this season, Kim Sang-soo and Oh Seon-jin moved teams, and Lee Hae-seung passed the final pass to managing director. Truly, the position of shortstop is Muju Gongsan.
It is inevitable to find an infield commander. At this point, the most attention is focused on Lee Jae-hyun. Because he played the most innings. In the first year of his debut, he committed 11 errors, but once he accumulated experience points. If he shows improved defense than he did this season, he can become a starting shortstop. His attack power isn’t bad either. His batting average was in the low .235 range (0.235), but he has a slugging power enough to hit 7 home runs.
Kim Young-woong (19), Lee Jae-hyeon’s motivation for joining the team, is also one of the contenders. He made only one error in 13 innings at shortstop this season. He showed his own stable defense.
Other potential candidates include Kim Ji-chan (21) and Kang Han-ul (31). In particular, Kang Hanwool can digest second and third base as well as shortstop. Looking at this season alone, Kim Ji-chan is used to being second baseman (734⅓ innings) and Kang Han-wool to be third baseman (336⅓ innings). Because of this, it is highly likely that Lee Jae-hyun and Kim Young-woong will receive the opportunity first.
Fans’ attention is likely to be focused on the Samsung shortstop next season. Moreover, coach Park Jin-man rose to the new command tower. As a player, he boasted the highest level of defense enough to be called the national shortstop. Of course, the evaluation of shortstops must be strict.
Samsung was the only one to hold the finishing camp abroad, and the roster was composed of younger players. Of course, Lee Jae-hyun and Kim Young-woong were also named. From the 2nd of last month, for 23 nights and 24 days, they focused on reinforcing their strength, physical strength, and basic skills with a 4-day training and 1-day rest schedule at Akama Ball Park in Okinawa, Japan.
Under the direction of coach Park, Lee Jae-hyun and Kim Young-woong returned after intensive training.
After the finish camp, head coach Park Jin-man said, “In this camp, which was mainly composed of younger players, we trained with an emphasis on strengthening the basic skills and physical strength of the players. The players followed the intensive training better than expected, and their movements and skills improved. I saw a lot of them. Young players have grown a lot through this finish camp,” he said, expressing his anticipation.
First of all, Lee Jae-hyun showed some expectations in the first year of his joining. He just needs to overcome the ‘second year jinx’ next season. He will never be smooth. Attention is focusing on whether Lee Jae-hyun will be able to overcome his difficult time and grow into Samsung’s starting shortstop.