Before the start of this season, when we asked SSG Landers coaching staff, ‘Who should be the best player this year?’, Choi Joo-hwan received the most votes.
The third season of Joo-Hwan Choi, who transferred through an FA contract ahead of the 2021 season. The previous two seasons had some ups and downs. In the 2021 season, his batting average was 2.5 6-18 home runs-67 RBIs. His expected long hits came out a lot, but his batting average remained unsatisfactory. Last year, he finished the season with a batting average of .201, suffering from injuries and a slump. 9 home runs. His season slugging percentage was also just 0.362.
But this season is off to a good start. Choi Joo-hwan has a batting average of .289 (28 hits in 97 at-bats), 5 homers and 15 RBIs in 26 games until the 6th. In particular, the increase in his slugging percentage is noticeable.
Joo-hwan Choi, who is recording a slugging percentage of 0.515 this season, has already hit two home runs in May. Following a solo home run against KT Wiz in Incheon on the 4th, he hit a solo home run against Woojin Ahn, the best pitcher in the league, against Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on the 6th. With SSG leading by only one point, 1-0, Choi Joo-hwan, who faced An Woo-jin in the 6th inning, hit the home run by targeting the timing of the first ball breaking ball. It is not an exaggeration to say that SSG won without allowing a tie or reversal thanks to Joo-Hwan Choi’s home run as SSG recorded the final score 2-1.
The performance at the beginning of this season is a great chance to wash away the regrets of each of the past two seasons. In particular, Choi Joo-hwan has been playing a good role in the second batting order recently. SSG has been packing table setters with Choo Shin-soo and Choi Ji-hoon. However, second hitter Choi Ji-hoon is currently out of power due to an injury. Coach Won-hyeong Kim, who has changed the composition of the lineup with various combinations, recently presented Choi Joo-hwan with the number 2 card, and it is succeeding. Choi Joo-hwan, who started as the second hitter, recorded a batting average of 3.33, 2 homers and 4 RBIs in 24 at-bats. He also achieved ‘multi-hit’ in 3 of his last 5 matches.
The more Choi Joo-hwan survives,메이저사이트 the more diverse the SSG batting order can be. That’s because he’s the type of hitter who can be tricky at second or cleanup or even in the lower batting order.
At the current pace, it is calculated that arithmetically, it is possible to hit 20 homers this season. Choi Joo-hwan has only achieved 20 home runs in his professional career, and he has 26 home runs in the 2018 season while playing for Doosan.