“I still think it was good.”
Until this day, the batting average for this season is 0.233. Nevertheless, Hwang Dae-in (27, KIA Tigers) was confident. And on this day, his performance awakened the batting line of the tiger corps that had been sleeping.
In the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League away match against the Samsung Lions held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 16th, Hwang Dae-in replaced Ryu Ji-hyeok, who was injured in the second inning, as a pinch hitter, 2 hits in 4 at-bats (1 home run) and 2 RBIs, making the team’s 8 -2 led to a major victory.
Although the game started on the bench, Hwang Dae-in led the team’s game with more than 5 points in 7 games since the match against the Lotte Giants on the 3rd (10 points) with an unexpected blow. In addition, KIA won 15 wins (17 losses), surpassing Samsung (15 wins, 19 losses) and jumped to 6th place.
Before the game, manager Kim Jong-guk said that there was a change in the batting order and said, “(Hwang) Dae-in and (Byeon) Woo-hyuk have been switched,” and “Woo-hyuk is going to start at first base.” Before the match, Hwang Dae-in’s batting average was 0.211. It was a decision that nodded his head as he suffered from extreme sluggishness with 0.167 in the last 10 games.
Ahead of this season, Hwang Dae-in received a lot of expectations. Hwang Dae-in, who was expected to be a promising giant from the beginning of his debut, hit double-digit homers in his last two seasons in a row. It was a no-brainer, as he led the team in RBI with 91 last season.
However, when I opened the lid, I was disappointed. This is the reason why I started the game from the bench on this day. The opportunity came earlier than expected to Hwang Dae-in, who was watching the game in the dugout. At the beginning of the second inning, when the team trailed 0-2, Ryu Ji-hyeok, the first hitter, was hit in the right shin area by a ball he hit and suffered bruises. Hwang Dae-in hurriedly came out as a substitute.
In the first at-bat, he withdrew with a ground ball to the second baseman, but it was different in the second at-bat in the 5th inning. Samsung starter Won Tae-in was making a scoreless effort with nine consecutive hits, but Hwang Dae-in hit Won Tae-in’s low-controlled 147km/h fastball and went over the left fence in the top of the 5th inning with no runners out. A large home run with a distance of 129m. His season 3 gun.
After Won Tae-in stepped down with 6 innings and 1 run, KIA took another chance. Samsung’s second pitcher, Kim Tae-hoon, was shaken sharply. Hwang Dae-in’s one shot seemed to wake up the KIA line. KIA attacked Kim Tae-hoon, who was shaking. Immediately after Byun Woo-hyuk’s double, Kim Kyu-seong, who started as a runner, tried to keep the game in check, and the atmosphere almost cooled, but Lee Woo-sung hit, Han Seung-taek walked on base, and Park Chan-ho tied the game 2-2 with an RBI and a timely hit from the left.
Hwang Dae-in was replaced with Woo Kyu-min at bat in 1st and 1st and 3rd bases, but Hwang Dae-in calmly dealt with it. Even with a 0-2 unfavorable count, he picked out two balls and then attacked the fork ball and hit a timely hit with an RBI that brought second base runner Lee Woo-seong home. Afterwards, KIA was able to secure victory by scoring 7 runs in just the 7th inning, including Kim Sun-bin and Choi Hyung-woo each with 1 RBI, and Socrates Brito’s three-run home run that put a wedge in the game.
Hwang Dae-in, who I met after the game, said, “I wanted to go out. I had a lot of good memories in Daegu. It felt so good to go out.” I feel so good that I can spend the week well,” he said.
I didn’t worry too much about the sluggishness either. Hwang Dae-in said, “I still think it was good,” but “I think I lost a bit of confidence because the evaluation was done by coaches and players, not me. I think the pace is the same when I saw it.”
Regarding the detailed story, he said, “That’s top secret,” which made people laugh, but about the power analysis, he said, “It seems to have helped a lot. I did not do it myself, so I relied on such a strategy analysis. It seems there is,” he explained.
A shot of the pursuit gun and a come-from-behind final blow opened the way for the other line. Hwang Dae-in said, “Of course (in the future) I think it will go well. Because I started the week well, I will be able to go on a winning streak this week.” I think I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match a little bit.”
Of course, there are still many shortcomings. It was like that when he hit second base in the 7th inning. Regarding the scene where he couldn’t catch the pop fly in the 8th inning, he said, “I didn’t think it was my ball, but people around me didn’t jump. So I ran, but I got excited. ” he blamed himself.
However, “I’m not a player who plays fine,안전놀이터 so I try to catch all the balls I can catch in front of me,” he said.
Is there any pressure to do better because of last year’s performance? Hwang Dae-in said, “I have never hit so many home runs in my career.” “I always feel better this year than last year.
“I think it’s good to have a sense of burden,” he added.