The NC Dinos, which are in the midst of a ranking fight, are on high alert. Park Gun-woo (34), who was the center of the lineup, was found to have a wrist fracture. The longer he is absent, the more fatal it is for NC.
Park Gun-woo started as the team’s No. 3 hitter and right fielder in the home game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season against the Lotte Giants at Changwon NC Park on the 26th, but was replaced by pinch runner Kim Sung-wook in the bottom of the third inning.
Park Geon-woo’s hardship started from the first at bat. Appearing at the first base in the bottom of the first inning with one out, Park was hit in the side by Lotte starter Park Se-woong’s fastball of 146 kilometers per hour on the third pitch. Park Geon-woo, who complained of pain, got up again and headed to the first base.
In his next at-bat, however, Park recorded a hit-by-pitch hit. Coming out to bat for the second time in the bottom of the third inning, Park had a full count match against Park Se-woong, but was hit on the right wrist by a fastball on the seventh pitch. Immediately holding onto his wrist, he collapsed. Even Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung, who was a teammate of the Doosan Bears, ran to the ground and looked worried. Park looked in pain, and eventually was replaced by runner Kim Sung-wook and left the stadium in an ambulance.
Afterwards, an NC official said, “Park Gun-woo was diagnosed with a suspected fracture in his right wrist after a local hospital examination. The second round of detailed examinations is scheduled in Seoul, and a treatment plan will be released afterwards.” If the fracture is certain in the second round of examinations, Park Gun-woo’s absence is expected to be prolonged. Most of them require more than six to eight weeks of recovery, so he could be out of the season.
Park Kun-woo’s injury is truly fatal for NC. He played in 89 games this season and posted a batting average of 0.344 (111 hits in 323 times at bat), 13 homers, 53 RBIs, 58 runs and four steals, and a 0.409 slugging percentage of 0.542 and OPS of 0.951. He ranked fifth in the batting average, 10th in the most hits, 7th in on-base plus slugging percentage, and 4th in the OPS.
He also showed good performance throughout the season. Since the season’s opening on March 23, Park’s batting average for the season has fallen below 0.300 only two days (April 3 to April 4). In terms of monthly batting average, he recorded 0.353 in March and April, 0.31 in May and 0.395 in June. Although he briefly fell into a slump in late July, his fluctuations were small in general.
“Park seems to be suffering from heat. That’s why I’m not in a perfect condition,” NC manager Kang In-kwon said ahead of the match on Wednesday. Still, Kang thanked the team, saying, “Just leaving the game without resting will be a great help to our team.” 밤알바
Son Ah-seop (36), another outfield resource, was diagnosed with injury to the posterior cruciate ligament of his left knee ahead of the start of the second half of the season and was excluded from the first team entry. He will check his condition through a reexamination in early August and plan for future treatment.
Son Ah-seop played in 79 games in the first half of the 2024 season and has a batting average of 0.291 (95 hits in 326 times at bat) with seven home runs, 50 RBIs, 45 runs and six steals, and an OPS of 0.726. He started late with a batting average of 0.271 until April, but has been gradually increasing his hitting sense since then. In that situation, he was injured after colliding with second baseman Park Min-woo during defense against Changwon SSG on the 4th.
Although Park Kun-woo and Son Ah-seop had different styles, they played a central role in NC, which has many young players. In addition, their skills can greatly contribute to the team. The injury is regrettable.
As of Wednesday, NC is ranked fifth with 47 wins, 46 losses and two draws (winning rate of 0.505) in 95 games this year. It is a right to advance to the fall baseball league, but it is dangerous as the sixth-ranked KT Wiz is showing a formidable upward trend. “We don’t know what will happen until the end,” manager Kang also asserted. Even though the players continue to perform, the injury is fatal.
However, NC must play with its remaining players this season. Park Han-kyul, Park Si-won, and Kim Sung-wook will fill the gap between the two players. “Those who were good players got hurt badly,” said Kim Sung-wook, who replaced Park Kun-woo in the game on Wednesday and had four RBIs including a home run. “I will work hard to help the rest of the players reach the semi-finals.”