Hanwha Eagles infielder Jeong Eun-won (23) is now the present, not the future of the team.
Jung Eun-won, who joined the team in the 2nd and 3rd rounds in 2018 and is in his 6th year this year, was the team’s main second baseman for 4 consecutive years from 2019, his 2nd year, to last year. Except for 2020, when he only played 79 games due to injury, he filled the regular at bats, and in 2021, he even won the second baseman Golden Glove.
Jeong Eun-won, who was born in 2000 in the KBO League and also the starting point, recorded 8 homers, 67 points, 49 RBIs, a batting average of 0.274, an on-base percentage of 0.377, and a slugging percentage of 0.368 in 140 games last year. The team ranked at the bottom for three consecutive years, and Eun-won Jeong’s stats dropped slightly from 2021. He needed time to calm himself down.
It was also regrettable for Jung Eun-won that defensive coach Cho Seong-hwan, who had been working defensively for two years from 2021, left for Doosan Bears after the season.
At the time Coach Cho left, Eun-won Jeong said, “Looking back, there were a lot of mistakes made by the infielders in our team as a whole, and I was at the center of it. I felt guilty towards the coach who did it.”
So Eun-won Jeong’s winter of 2022 was focused on recapturing his body and mind. Jeong Eun-won, whom I met at Incheon International Airport on the 29th of last month ahead of departure for the spring camp, said, “I continued to train steadily.
For Jeong Eun-won’s rebound, Hanwha introduced ‘carrot’. Hanwha signed a 2023 contract with Jeong Eun-won for 218 million won, an increase of 27.2 million won (14.3%) from last season’s annual salary (190.8 million won). He ranks second in team salary among non-FA players and first among fielders. 안전놀이터
Jeong Eun-won said, “I am grateful that I received a lot better than I thought,” while expressing his feelings about the salary contract, he expressed his determination for this season, saying, “I feel responsible for the team every year, even if it is not because of the salary.
Former infielder Yoon-seok Choi, a “detail expert” who had a senior-junior life with Eun-won Jeong from 2018 to 2019, taking over as the first-team defensive coach from this year will help Jung Eun-won improve his defensive skills again. Jeong Eun-won is especially burdened by the fact that she has to take turns in the keystone duo with shortstop candidates such as Oh Seon-jin and Park Jung-hyun, as shortstop Ha Joo-seok was suspended for 70 games this year.
Lastly, Jeong Eun-won said, “I want to continue training as much as I have prepared well so far, rather than thinking about it in particular at the camp. If I train with the new senior Chae Eun-seong, I try to learn a lot. A senior who has a lot to learn,” looking forward to the Arizona spring camp in the United States. did.