Can Han Seung-hyeok bring good energy back to the Hanwha Eagles, who failed to win 9 games in a row?
Starting on the 4th, Hanwha will play three home games in the 2023 professional baseball KBO League against the Lotte Giants at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park.
Recently, Hanwha rode a huge rise. Starting with Daejeon KIA Tigers on the 21st of last month, and Daegu Samsung Lions on the 1st, he won 8 consecutive victories. It was the first record in 18 years since June 2005.
Along with the growth of young players, the balance between pitching and hitting was the main secret of Hanwha’s success. During the winning streak, Hanwha’s team average ERA was 1.75, ranking first, and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) was 0.793, ranking third. Outfielder Chae Eun-seong, who joined as a free agent after last season, took center stage this year with a batting average of 0.301, 10 home runs, and 45 RBIs, while infielder Noh Si-hwan, born in 2000, who currently ranks second in home runs for the season with 17 arches, is in a winning streak. He sent 5 batted balls out of the fence.
Afterwards, Hanwha lost 1-2 against Samsung in Daegu on the 2nd, ending their winning streak, but not only finishing in last place, but also preparing a stepping stone to rise to the mid-table. Before the game on the 4th, the gap between Hanwha (31 wins, 4 draws, 38 losses) and the 5th place Doosan Bears (35 wins, 1 draw, 36 losses), which is the final line for advancing to fall baseball, is only 3 games.
Now, in order for Hanwha to continue its mid-ranking fight, it is necessary to minimize the period of the so-called ‘aftereffects of winning streak’, when the flow subsides after a long winning streak is over. You have to quickly pick up the atmosphere, and the best thing here is, of course, the victory high. And Hanwha announced Han Seung-hyuk as the starting pitcher to win the game on the 4th.
Han Seung-hyeok, who was nominated by the KIA with the overall number 8 in the first round in the 2011 rookie draft, is a right-handed pitcher who posted an average ERA of 5.84 with 18 wins, 24 losses, 2 saves, and 19 holds in 228 professional first team games (411.1 innings) until last year. After the 2022 season, he wore a Hanwha uniform through a trade.
Having been active in the bullpen at the beginning of the season, he joined the starting lineup when Kim Min-woo and Jang Min-jae were out of power due to injuries and reorganization. It is still in the phase of gradually increasing the number of pitches.
Han Seung-hyeok, who seemed to settle into the starting lineup easily, scored 1 run in 3 innings against Kiwoom Heroes in Daejeon on June 17, and then pitched 4 scoreless innings against KIA in Daejeon on the 22nd of the same month. However, he was sluggish in his recent appearance against KT Wiz in Daejeon on June 28th. His final performance was 3 innings, 8 hits, 2 strikeouts and 4 runs. Fortunately, as Hanhwa won 6-4 with the performance of the other line, he escaped defeat, but he clearly fell short of expectations.토토사이트
Hanwha is currently worried about the 4th and 5th starters. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd starters, consisting of Felix Pena, Ricardo Sanchez, and Moon Dong-ju, are evaluated as sufficiently competitive in the league, but the 4th and 5th starters are not. Han Seung-hyuk, who has a lot of experience, needs to fill one of these positions in order to build a stable starting lineup and rise above the mid-table.
Will Han Seung-hyeok be able to give victory to Hanwha at the same time as he solidifies his position with good pitching? Amidst a lot of interest, right-hander Na Gyun-an, who also received the monthly MVP in April, will be selected as Lotte’s starting pitcher. On the 21st of last month, right after the match against KT Wiz in Suwon, he was diagnosed with inflammation of the elbow.
Meanwhile, in the Daejeon area, where the match will be held, some rain is predicted from the morning. Since there is a forecast that rain will continue to fall from the morning of the 4th to the morning of the 5th, there is a possibility that the rain will be canceled depending on the situation.
