"It's uncomfortable."

SSG Landers foreign hitter Guillermo Heredia (34) targeted the Automated Ball Strike system (ABS) for the second year in a row. In short, it is uncomfortable. He challenged for 200 hits last season despite the discomfort and explained the secret to becoming the batting champion. He said he didn't think about the ABS while hitting.

Heredia lightly warmed up after the exhibition game against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju was canceled on the 18th. He is expected to be a key player in the SSG lineup for the third year. Last year, he achieved a remarkable record with 195 hits, a batting average of .360, 21 home runs, 118 RBIs, 82 runs, and an OPS of .937. Compared to the 2023 season, his home runs and slugging percentage have significantly increased.

Manager Lee Soong-yong noted, "I am contemplating the batting order. I've done various tests. I think I will be thinking until the day before the opening game. He might enter as the fourth hitter. He adapted well from his first year. He upgraded last year. This year, I feel that his conditioning has improved significantly." There are also projections that his slugging ability will be better than last year.

Meeting Heredia at Champions Field, he said, "I'm glad to have completed the exhibition games healthily and without injury, as always. My goal has always been to play baseball healthily. I have no desire to win any awards. I believe that results will follow when I focus on the game. If I concentrate on baseball, the results will come."

Last season, he fiercely competed for the batting average against Lotte's Victor Reyes. He set a new KBO record for the most hits in a single season with 202 hits. Ultimately, although he finished with a batting average of .352, the batting championship went to Heredia. However, Heredia missed out on the Golden Glove award due to Reyes' record of 202 hits.

Heredia said, "The competition with Reyes motivated me. My batting average was high, but I worked hard to catch up. This year, I'm not thinking about the batting championship or 200 hits," he laughed. Although it was interpreted as a desire for slugging rather than winning the batting title, he repeatedly stated, "Slugging is not something I can achieve by will alone. If I focus on baseball, the results will come."

He was the first batting champion to introduce the ABS system to the world last year. It seemed that he was not greatly affected by the ABS calls. However, he expressed a very critical evaluation, saying, "Personally, I think it's not good and it’s uncomfortable. There are many fluctuations depending on the height. I have doubts about where my zone is, and it tends to call my pitches as strikes. Sometimes, I get caught up in it. I try not to think about it. Thinking about it causes stress."

This year, it has been adjusted down by about 1 cm based on a height of 180 cm. There are evaluations that each stadium has different strike zones and may lean either in or out. Curves that drop to the ground have also been called strikes. However, it seems that this will not have a significant impact on Heredia's hitting as long as he swings without the mindset he had last year.

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