Moon Dong-joo returns to the Hanwha starting lineup after two foreign players (Felix Peña and Ricardo Sanchez) evaporated in two days. However, stabilizing Hanwha’s lineup is still far from easy, with two of the most promising hitters of the year out of the lineup. Lotte placed a promising pitcher on the disabled list after he topped out at 155 mph in a game the day before, and LG’s top prospect never made it past the first team threshold again.
The KBO released the first-team roster additions and deletions on Tuesday. A total of nine players were dropped from the first team roster, including two from LG (Woo Kang-hoon of Songchan), one from SSG (Kim Joo-on), two from NC (Kim Soo-yoon and Jeong Jae-hwan), one from Lotte (Lee Min-seok), and three from Hanwha (Lee Won-seok, Jung Eun-won, and Han Seung-joo). The teams will call up players from the second team to fill these spots ahead of their first midweek match on the 21st.
Hanwha’s move to the second team, which saw three players drop to the second team at once, is of interest. First, right-hander Han Seung-ju could be explained as a move to the second team in anticipation of Moon Dong-joo’s call-up, which was announced on the 21st. Moon, the league’s top fireballer, showed improvement last year and became the de facto national team ace, and it was expected that he would fully establish himself as the right-handed ace this year. However, he was sent down to the second team on April 29 after his poor performance raised concerns.
In six games this season, Moon went 1-2 with an 8.78 ERA in 26⅔ innings pitched. His batting average was a whopping 0.380 and his walks per inning pitched (WHIP) spiked to 2.21. While his velocity didn’t drop significantly, his command was shaky, his upper and lower body didn’t move organically, and his fastball-to-fastball ratio was a concern.
Initially, he was scheduled to make adjustments in the second team for about 10 days before being called up to the first team, but it took longer than expected. However, on the 21st, he was announced as a starter and made his first team debut. Han Seung-ju has been underperforming with a 14.54 ERA in eight games this season, and his performance against the NC on the 15th was disappointing with seven runs in ⅔ innings. He is a young pitcher that Hanwha has high hopes for, but he is expected to get his feet wet in the second team again. In seven games in the second team this year, he has a 0.90 ERA.
However, with the loss of Jeong Eun-won and Lee Won-seok, the Hanwha bats were forced to rebuild. Eun-won Jung’s bat is particularly hard to find. A formerly successful second baseman, Jeong lost his spot in the team’s lineup last year due to a poor season, and this year, he tried to increase his utilization by playing the outfield, but unfortunately, his hitting slump continued into the regular season. In 27 games this season, Jung is batting just .172 with a .609 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). After being designated for assignment on April 8, he was promoted back to the first team on April 25, but after struggling with sporadic opportunities for a while, his batting cycle has recently taken a downward turn and he was sent to the second team for the second time this season.
Lee Won-seok, who had high expectations in the outfield, was also sent down to the second team after batting just .143 with a .393 OPS in 21 games this season. Despite his versatility in other areas, it was difficult for him to keep a spot on 메이저사이트 the first team when his offense was so ineffective. With the team in danger of falling to the bottom of the standings, Hanwha is looking to turn things around with a transfusion of beasts.
Lotte demoted Lee Min-seok to the second team after he started against Doosan in Jamsil on April 19. It wasn’t for a lack of performance, as Lee pitched three and a third innings against Doosan with three hits, one walk, four strikeouts, and two earned runs, and he thrilled fans with a powerful fastball that reached nearly 155 kilometers per hour. After being sidelined for the start of the 2023 season after undergoing elbow surgery, Lee proved that his rehabilitation was complete.
However, he suffered a bruise on his finger while pitching and was forced to leave the game earlier than expected. Lotte officials said he would need two to three days to recover, and if he did, he would be out of the starting rotation. With something to show for it, and with the fifth spot in Lotte’s rotation still in flux, he could get another chance to start in 10 days.
LG dropped Song Chan-ui and right-hander Woo Kang-hoon to the second team. Song Chan-ui, who was highly touted for his batting ability, failed to make the first team again and is now in the second team. The right-hander was highly touted in 2022 for his power despite his lack of size, but since then, he has struggled with slumps and injuries, and while he has tried to change his batting form, he hasn’t quite found his groove. Song was called up on May 18 after batting .276 with two home runs and 14 RBIs in 25 games in the Futures League season, but after failing to record a hit in three games, he is getting some rebuilding time with the second team.
Acquired in a trade with Lotte, right-hander Woo Kang-hoon has been on the first team roster consistently since April 18, showing promise with a fastball that can reach more than 150 kilometers per hour. With a promising 4.50 ERA in 11 games this season, he’ll be dropped to the second team. He’s a resource the team is counting on, so there’s a chance he’ll get a consistent first-team call-up in the future.
SSG drops right-hander Kim Ju-on to the second team. Kim had a 15.43 ERA in two games this season. After giving up five runs in 3⅔ innings against NC on May 3, Kim was recalled to the second team, but after struggling with three runs on four hits (one home run) in 1 1/3 innings against Gochuk Kiwoom on May 19, he was sent back to the second team to regroup.
The NC also sent down Jae-hwan “Jae-hwan” Lee and Soo-yoon “Soo-yoon” Kim, who have not played much recently, to the second team. Hyeon-hwan was hitting .283 with one home run and an OPS of .788 in 33 games last season, but his playing time has dropped significantly as of late. Kim Soo-yoon is also dropping back to the second team after struggling since his May 14 call-up.