SSG Landers' Kim Jae-hwan (38) adjusted his hitting by reaching base with a hit and a walk in his first Futures League game of the season.
Kim Jae-hwan started as the No. 2 designated hitter in the Futures League game against the LG Twins at SSG Futures Field in Ganghwa, Incheon, on the 30th and went 1 for 2 with a walk.
Facing right-handed starter Yang Jin-hyeok with one out in the bottom of the first, Kim Jae-hwan popped out to left field. In the fourth, he led off and worked the count to eight pitches before drawing a walk. However, a follow-up hit did not come, so it did not lead to a score.
Leading off the seventh, Kim Jae-hwan lined the fifth pitch from right-handed reliever Sung Dong-hyun for a hit. After reaching first, he was replaced by pinch-runner Ahn Jae-yeon and finished the game.
Kim Jae-hwan is a home run hitter with 1,510 career KBO League games, a .278 batting average (5,154 at-bats, 1,434 hits), 278 home runs, 992 RBIs, 843 runs, 44 stolen bases and an OPS of .871. Last winter he moved teams for the first time, signing a two-year, 2.2 billion won contract with SSG.
Kim Jae-hwan, who won the 2018 home run title (44 home runs) even in the pitcher-friendly Jamsil Stadium, was expected to benefit from a synergy effect after making the hitter-friendly SSG Landers Field his home park. But this season he managed a .110 average in 24 games (82 at-bats, 9 hits), with 2 home runs, 10 RBIs, 7 runs and an OPS of .462, and was removed from the first-team roster on the 27th and sent down to the second team.
SSG manager Lee Soong-yong explained the reason for removing Kim Jae-hwan from the first-team roster in an interview on the 28th, saying, "I kept checking on Jae-hwan, but he wasn't able to swing his usual way and was just putting the bat on the ball. And he had been one of the best at hitting O Won-seok's pitches over the past three years, but that day he couldn't swing at all, and I felt he was struggling a bit."
Emphasizing that "there is nothing wrong with the way he hits in practice or his balance," manager Lee Soong-yong said, "His mind or head seems a little tangled. That's something we can't fix for him. He has to overcome it himself," and added, "It would be best if he could come back right after 10 days, but I think it's also good to give him enough time. If, when he returns, he struggles again, it will be even harder," explaining that he would give Kim Jae-hwan enough time in the second team.
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