Lotte Giants’ Jeon Jun-woo started six times in the away match in Game 12 of the season between the Doosan Bears and the team at the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 14th, and started as a designated hitter, flying with four hits, five RBIs, one run and one walk in five at-bats.메이저놀이터
Jeon’s bat, which had been under fire recently, got on fire as soon as the game started. With a chance to load the bases with two outs in the top of the first inning, Jeon hit a 142-km forkball on the fourth pitch in 2B-1S against Jordan Balazovic, the ace of the Doosan Bears, to start the game. This was just the beginning. With a 3-1 lead, Jeon once again clashed with Balazovic at the top of the third inning with one out and runners on the third base, and this time, he swung a 149-km fastball to exchange a point for his outcount.
The good trend continued. In the top of the fourth inning with Na Seung-yeop’s hit on the second base, Jeon gave Doosan’s changed pitcher Jeong Cheol-won a 147-km hit on the sixth pitch in 2B-2S to right field, and in the top of the sixth inning with two outs and runners on the second base with a 7-1 lead, Jeon finished the game with three hits and four RBIs by exploding an RBI double that went over the height of the right field to Doosan’s Kwon Hwi.
Jeon Joon-woo made no secret of his presence until the end of the game. In the top of the eighth inning, with two outs and no runners, he made his first score by homecoming Park Seung-wook’s timely hit after getting a walk, and in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and a runner on the second base to win the game 11-2, he hit an RBI double that sealed the win, playing a “one-man show” game with four hits, five RBIs, one run and one walk. Thanks to Jeon Joon-woo’s performance, Lotte won three consecutive games, and regained its sole seventh place in 51 days since the match against the Sajik Hanwha Eagles on June 28.
The “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” Lotte-Doosan game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on August 14, 2024. Lotte’s Jeon Jun-woo hits a timely two-run hit with two outs and a full base in the bottom of the first inning./Jamsil = Reporter Kwak Kyung-hoon kphoto@mydaily.co.kr
On a day filled with joy of victory, Jeon first expressed his regret to the team. This is why the batting sense that led the Lotte offense with Victor Reyes in the early days of the season hit rock bottom after returning from injury. Not only scoring chances but also performance was very poor when runners were present. When a runner was present until last month after returning from injury, he only posted a batting average of 0.220 and a score of 0.182 when he was in the scoring position. Compared to when there was no runner (0.262), his performance was much disappointing.
Jeon Jun-woo, who met with reporters after the game, said, “It’s not rejuvenation. Seeing Kang Min-ho play, I’m a little short,” but soon said, “It’s good to get the MVP in August, but I was a little saggy. I didn’t feel very good because I got hurt. I felt sorry for the team. But as August began, my condition got better little by little, and I think the timing was good.”
In particular, coach Kim Tae-hyung often changed Jeon’s batting order as there were situations where the flow was cut off from him when there was a runner. Of course, Jeon was also under a lot of stress. “Of course, when there is a runner, I get stressed out if I don’t hit it well. However, I thought (the batting) would come up anyway. Since focusing more doesn’t improve it, I thought it would come up naturally when my batting condition improves,” he said.
Consequently, Jeon has been on the rise with 18 hits, 15 RBIs and a batting average of 0.439, in the last 10 games. Although there are not many samples, he has a batting average of 0.526 in the scoring position in August and 0.615 in the presence of a runner. Even when he was under stress due to poor performance, he did not give up and swung his bat endlessly to regain the sense of hitting power. Despite his poor physical strength, Jeon did not rest to contribute to his team.
“If you play a season for a year, it’s really bad when you’re in a bad mood, and it’s really good when you’re in a bad mood. That’s why I’ve prepared a lot with the thought of ‘let’s just go through this period’ leading to good results,” he said. “I’ve been exercising a lot to get inspiration. I just kept practicing without thinking. When my batting performance is not good, I tend to gain confidence by doing a lot of individual exercises by myself. And based on what I’ve played a lot, I feel like I’ve been in a lot of help as I’ve gained physical strength,” he said, explaining the secret of his revival.
Lotte elevated to the 7th place by winning the match on Sunday. However, Jeon answered firmly to the word “7th place.” “It doesn’t matter if you are ranked 7th. You are still far behind the 5th place. I am only looking at the 5th place. If I rank 7th, I will be satisfied with that. So I am focusing on seeing where I have set my goal and going,” he said. “Honestly, it is difficult to achieve 20 consecutive wins. However, I have heard that if you say something nice, it can be imprinted in people’s minds and give them a positive impact. This is absurd, but I wanted to make sure that I win no matter what.”
Although it remains in 7th place, Lotte is successfully undergoing a generational change this year. Prospects such as Hwang Sung-bin, Yoon Dong-hee, Son Sung-bin, Na Seung-yeop, and Ko Seung-min are blooming, with Jeong Hoon and others taking the center stage, starting with “Captain” Jeon Joon-woo.