Victor Reyes (Lotte Giants) is on par with “Jongbeom Shin” Lee Jong-beom. Now, the countdown has begun. Only four hits are left until the second 200th hit in the KBO League history. He is enjoying a new history.메이저놀이터
Reyes started as a right fielder and second batter in the away match of Game 15 of the season between the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League KIA Tigers and the team at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 25th, and played 2 hits, 2 RBIs and 1 run in 5 at-bats.
Lotte had been agonizing over foreign hitters for the past few years. DJ Peters and Nico Goodrums all failed to meet Lotte’s expectations. Jack Rex, who joined the club as a substitute for Peters, had 32 hits, eight homers and a 0.330 OPS of 0.905 in 56 games in his first season, but in the following year, he failed to finish the season until the end due to a knee injury and took off his uniform, making it difficult to recruit foreign hitters that he liked.
Immediately after taking office, Kim Tae-hyung clearly expressed his intention to replace foreign hitters, and recruited Victor Reyes, who had 321 hits, 16 homers, 107 RBIs and a batting average of 0.264 OPS of 0.673 in 394 games during his five seasons in the Major League. Reyes’ weakness is that his productivity on home runs is low. However, the biggest advantage that he could make up for this was his sophistication. Notably, he played in 69 games with the Detroit Tigers in the 2019 season and posted a batting average of 0.304.
And Reyes’ sophistication was real. Reyes had 11 hits, one home run, three RBIs and a batting average of 0.393 OPS of 0.988 in seven games in March, before flying up to 30 hits, three homers, 16 RBIs and a batting average of 0.333 OPS of 0.864 in April. Usually, players with less sophistication need a period of adjustment to the KBO League, but this was not the case for Reyes at all, and he played in all 80 games, finishing the first half very well with 109 hits, seven homers, 69 RBIs, 43 runs and a batting average of 0.346 OPS of 0.884.
Asked about the MVP after the first half of the season, coach Kim Tae-hyung said, “I’ve been asked this question a lot, but it’s hard to say who it is. I’ve always said, ‘I’ve been the MVP for about 10 years,'” adding, “Reyes did a great job. I think he almost never missed the game. Other players did a great job, but Reyes did a great job.” Reyes’ bat didn’t stop even after the All Star.
In particular, in August when Reyes was running for 200 hits, he said, “I think I can hit 200 hits. It’s the best. If any coach asks, ‘Do you want to use Reyes?’ everyone will say so. “I prefer Reyes who hits 350 than a player who hits 30 home runs at 280,” he said again. And when the only 200 hits in the KBO League began to come true, head coach Kim Tae-hyung also decided to actively push the record by moving Reyes’ batting order to No. 2.
Reyes had multiple hits on the first day when he moved to No. 2 on the 22nd. Then, he remained silent against Hanwha Eagles on the 23rd, but added another hit against KT Wiz on the 24th, leaving only six hits to the 200-hit mark, before embarking on a full-fledged “countdown” by adding two hits against KIA on the 25th.
In his first at-bat in the first inning, Reyes grounded out to shortstop against Kia starter Yang Hyeon-jong. However, in the bottom of the third inning with the score tied 1-1 with no outs, he swung Yang’s 130-km slider at the first pitch to send the ball to center field and sent two runners home. Reyes now has five hits to spare. Reyes, who struck out at his third at-bat, stepped down once again in the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning with no runners on and one out, Reyes, who met Kia’s changed pitcher Lee Joon-young, once again stuck out his bat on the 134-km slider at the second pitch in 1B-0S, this time exploding a double to right field. Reyes, who added two hits in his last at-bat, was out on par with Lee’s 196 hits in 1994. He tied for fourth place in all time. Now, only two players are ahead of Reyes. Jose Fernandez (1997 hits in 2019 and 199 hits in 2020) and Seo Geon-chang (201 hits in 2014).
Reyes has four more games to play. His opponents are the Doosan Bears and the NC Dinos (two games) and the KIA Tigers. If he secures a single hit in each game, he can have 200 hits. However, Reyes can potentially set a new record of the most hits in KBO history that Seo Geon-chang holds. If he secures six hits in the remaining four games, a new history will be created. The birth of the best foreign hitter in KBO league history is imminent.