Professional baseball player Haseok Ha of the Hanwha Eagles is hitting over .500 in the second team. However, there are no immediate prospects for a call-up to the first team. Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon noted, "Now is not the time to think about that (the second team)."

On the 26th, Ha started as the third shortstop in a Futures League game against Doosan Bears at Seosan Stadium, recording 2 hits in 3 at-bats and 1 walk.

In the first inning, after two outs, he hit a single to right that went over the second baseman's head. In the third inning, trailing 0-1 with one out and a runner on second, he hit a single to center to create a scoring opportunity on first and third base. The following batter, Jang Gyu-hyun, made a ground ball to the second baseman, tying the game at 1-1.

Hanwha pulled ahead 3-1 in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Han Ji-yoon and consecutive doubles by Lee Min-seok and Jeong An-seok. Ha came up to bat first in the fifth inning and struck out against left-handed pitcher Nam Ho. With a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning and runners on second and third with two outs, he drew a walk and was replaced by designated runner Bae Seung-soo to finish the game.

Thus, Ha has maintained a crazy batting sense, recording multi-hits in four consecutive games in the second team. On the 21st, he recorded 1 hit in 3 at-bats (a double) against Goyang Heroes. On the 22nd, he hit 3 for 6 against Goyang, followed by 2 hits in 3 at-bats on the 23rd against Goyang, 2 hits in 3 at-bats against Doosan on the 25th, and 2 hits in 3 at-bats on this day, also marking four consecutive multi-hits. Ha is now batting .556 (10 hits in 18 at-bats).

However, Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon put off mentioning Ha's call-up to the first team. Prior to the game against LG at Jamsil Stadium on the 26th, when asked about Ha, who is hitting well in the second team, Kim said, "Now is not the time to think about that. I'm busy enough here, but I'm watching closely. They did well in the broadcast today. I'm keeping an eye on it. Our players are doing well here and there, so I will think about that later."

In the first team, Sim Woo-jun, who was signed with a 5 billion won free agent contract, is the starting shortstop. Lee Do-yoon, who played 134 games last year with a batting average of .277, is the backup shortstop. There is no place for Ha for the time being.

Meanwhile, Hanwha was shut out 0-4 by LG at Jamsil Stadium on the 26th. They became the first complete-game victims of LG’s starting pitcher Lim Chan-kyu. They failed to score a single run for two consecutive days.

Haseok Ha, who was drafted first overall by Hanwha in the 2012 first round, was disciplined for drunk driving in 2022. After serving the suspension, he returned for the 2023 season but struggled with a batting average of .114 (4 hits in 35 at-bats) over 25 games. Last year, he recorded a batting average of .292 in 64 games in the first team (40 hits in 137 at-bats).

However, Haseok Ha applied for free agency last winter. Hanwha signed Sim Woo-jun, who obtained free agency from KT Wiz, to a contract worth 5 billion won over four years. Ha was at risk of becoming a free-agent nomad, but Hanwha belatedly signed him for a maximum of 110 million won for one year. His guaranteed salary is 90 million won.

Haseok Ha trained at the second team spring camp held in Kochi, Japan, and showed good hitting with a batting average of .471 (8 hits in 17 at-bats) in Futures practice games. He played in 6 exhibition games, going 2 for 5 (a batting average of .400) with 1 RBI and 1 walk.

After the exhibition games, he was sent down to the second team, where he is bombarding pitchers. However, there are backups for the Hanwha infield, including Lee Do-yoon, Hwang Young-mook, Moon Hyun-bin, and Kwon Gwang-min, leaving no room for him.

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