After graduating from Sebyeong High School, Park was selected by SSG Landers as the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 KBO Rookie Draft. Park was the first fielder to be selected by the KBO.
Park Ji-hwan became the first high school graduate rookie fielder in 20 years after Jung Sang-ho in 2001 and Lim Hoon in 2004. He played in two games after the season play-off, and was called up again in mid-April after missing the entry. Since then, he has had eight hits, three RBIs, five runs scored, and a batting average of 0.308. He was out of his team for a while after being diagnosed with a microfracture of the mid-heavy bone after being hit by a sand dune in the back of his left hand in the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on April 30, but after returning to Daejeon, he said, “It was time to reflect on himself.”스포츠토토
Park Ji-hwan made his comeback in the match against the Lotte Giants in Busan on June 9. He also made his debut homerun in the match against Lotte Giants. He swung the bat with 30 hits, two homers, 11 RBIs, 15 runs batted in (hundreds of thousands) and a batting average of 0.411 in June. However, he has been experiencing growth pains for a while since then. He recorded nine hits, four RBIs, three runs batted in (hundreds of thousands) and a batting average of 0.237 in July, and marked five hits, one run and 10 strikeouts in August.
Park Ji-hwan’s performance this season is 0.310 OPS 0.772 with 52 hits, two homers, 18 RBIs, 25 runs and seven steals in 53 games.
Ahead of the match against Hanwha in Incheon on the 16th, head coach Lee Sung-yong talked with Park Ji-hwan in front of the dugout. He was seen feeling intimidated after being silent with no hits and three strikeouts in four at-bats against the Changwon NC Dinos on the 15th.
“(Park) Ji-hwan didn’t look like that at first, but he’s a little daunted since yesterday (15th) when the game ended. So I thought I should call him and talk to him, but he just saw me and I talked to him,” Lee said after the training. “At first, I don’t know how to play the game. So it’s fun to just play the game, and if you work hard, you get good results. If you do it, you will gain confidence. That’s a very dangerous moment.”
He kept saying, “I think the young friend will do whatever he wants, but now if the pitchers turn around and there are weaknesses, he tries to attack the weaknesses. I have to wait and endure it, but that doesn’t work. There are times when you catch a good hit. If you do that, you have a lot of thoughts and try to hit hard, your form is broken and your balance is broken,” and added, “I asked Ji-hwan how it was, and he told me exactly what I said.”
Manager Lee Soo-yong told Park not to think about doing well right now. He hoped that he would gain experience by running around the ballpark. The coach said to Park, “That will all be experienced by you later on. Just being a professional after graduating from high school is something you are really good at. You have shown great performances while playing in games, so why are you trying to be so good at it? If you stack up one by one, everything will become yours, so don’t think about it and run around. The coaches will help you make up for the rest. If you do that, you will improve. Don’t try too hard, don’t think too much, and focus on running.”