Lotte Giants foreign hitter Victor Reyes produced a multi-hit, rising to third place with the most hits by individuals in a single season in the KBO League. Considering the current batting sense and the remaining number of games, it is expected that it will be able to create a new history of Korean baseball.
Reyes started as the second batter and right fielder in Game 16 between the teams of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League Doosan Bears at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 26th, and posted two hits, one RBI and one walk from four times at bat. Lotte’s 3-4 defeat made it clear that he would like some light, but he did his part.
Reyes displayed good batting performance from his first at bat. With no runners on with one out in the bottom of the first inning when Lotte was losing 0-3, he had a hit against Doosan starter Kwak Bin. With Kwak Bin’s second pitch and a 123-km curve ball, he garnered a clean hit to the midfielder. He did not miss his out on making a mistake in the center of the strike zone.
Reyes also showed off his strong side in chances. When Lotte was losing 0-4, he hit an RBI double off Doosan left-hander Lee Byung-hun in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and a runner on the second base, giving his team its first run of the game. 먹튀검증
With Lee Byung-hun’s third 129-km slider in the middle of the strike zone being thrown in one ball and one strike, Reyes’ bat did not miss it. He brought the runner on the second base home with a bullet-like hit that penetrated the side of the first baseman.
Reyes had a batting average of 0.353 (196 hits in 556) with 15 homers and 107 RBIs in an OPS of 0.909 in 140 games in the 2024 season before the game. On the 22nd, he recorded two hits against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon and tied with 193 hits recorded by Son Ah-seop (currently NC Dinos) in 2017, tied for the most hits in a single season by Lotte.
Reyes later added one hit in the match against KT Wiz in Suwon on the 24th, beating Son Ah-seop to become the star of Lotte’s most hits in a single season. On top of that, he filled 196 hits in the season with one hit against KT on the 24th and two hits against Gwangju KIA Tigers on the 25th.
His 196th hit rank as the fourth highest number of hits in a single season of the KBO. In 1994, Lee Jong-beom, who was a member of the Haitai Tigers, played in 124 games under the then 126 games and had 196 hits.
It took 20 years for Lee Jong-beom to break his record. Seo Geon-chang (current KIA Tigers) not only surpassed Lee Jong-beom in 2014 when he was a member of the Kiwoom Heroes, but also had an unprecedented 200 hits. He played in all games under 128 games and recorded 201 hits.
Reyes set the stage for his second 200th hit in KBO history with his multi-hitters. Jose Miguel Fernandez, who played for the Doosan Bears from 2019 to 2022, also beat Lee Jong-beom in the half.
Fernandez had 197 hits in 2019 and 199 hits in 2020. Reyes is set to rank third among all individuals with the most hits in a single season in the KBO League. He will try to break Fernandez and Seo Geon-chang records in a home game against the NC Dinos on Sept. 27.