In the 2022 offseason, Lotte Giants showed off its “big hand” in the free agent (FA) market for the first time in a while. It was the moment when Lotte changed its stance, as it had been bent on reducing the size of its players and nurturing promising players. Lotte focused on strengthening the infield center line, which had been pointed out as a weakness, and recruited Yoo Kang-nam for a total of 8 billion won (8 million U.S. dollars) and Noh Jin-hyuk for 5 billion won (5 million dollars) over four years. And right before the closing of the stove league, the company had a pleasant shopping time by recruiting Han Hyun-hee for a total of 4 billion won (3 million dollars) over three years.고소득알바
After Kang Min-ho became a member of the Samsung Lions through FA eligibility after the 2017 season, catcher was the biggest concern Lotte had. Before changing positions to pitchers, Lotte provided opportunities to several promising players, including Na Kyun-an, Jung In-geun, Kang Tae-yul, Kim Joon-tae (KT Wiz), and Ahn Jung-yeol (NC Dinos), but it did not achieve any significant results. As a result, I hired Yoo Kang-nam after a lot of thought. Lotte noted that it has the physical strength to wear a catcher’s mask for more than 100 games every year and the best framing ability.
Contrary to expectations, Yoo played 121 games last year, recording 92 hits, 10 homers, 55 RBIs, 45 runs scored, and a batting average of 0.261 OPS of 0.726. Even that was only achieved at the end of the season, when Lotte failed to advance to the postseason. Yoo made numerous efforts in off-season by holding the bat to continue his good performance at the end of the season. However, he started off sluggishly with a batting average of 0.235 in seven games in March, before struggling with a batting average of 0.042, going down to the second division once in April. It was in May that Yoo’s “desperate spirit” began to change.
Yoo Kang-nam began to gradually raise his batting sense from late May, and revived with a batting average of 0.257 OPS of 0.764 with four arches. After the start of the June schedule, the batting sense dropped significantly again, but it is a great help to Lotte’s rise, including the joint-venture of the first shutout of this season with Aaron Wilkerson, “Sign Jesus,” against the KIA Tigers on the 4th. The steal rate, which was considered the biggest weakness until last year, is also third in the league with 0.278. Runners who used to run whenever they could see the opportunity are now watching out for Yoo Kang-nam’s shoulders.
Han Hyun-hee, who played in 38 games last year between the starting pitcher and the bullpen, and was sluggish with a 5.45 ERA in 6 wins, 12 losses, and 3 holds, is also a big help to the team this year. Although he failed to secure the starting position at the beginning of the season, he succeeded in remarkably improving with a 1.1-hold ERA of 2.87 in 12 games during May, and filled the gap caused by the consecutive departures of the starters. Although there are not many samples, he pitched against KIA on the 5th with two runs (one earned run) in five innings.
With Yoo Kang-nam and Han Hyun-hee, who received the most criticism for Lotte’s poor performance until the beginning of this season, on track, the remaining concern is Noh Jin-hyuk. Lotte had a lot of concerns about shortstop as well as the catcher to use foreign slots in the shortstop position. As a result, he showed great interest in Noh, who is not very durable, but can record an OPS of 0.800 or more with a double-digit home run, and captured Noh’s heart through an active courtship operation. In particular, Noh’s bat was hot before he left due to injury.
However, after a long hiatus due to a side injury, Noh rarely recovered his batting sense, and only posted 86 hits, four homers, 51 RBIs and a 0.257 OPS of 0.724 in 113 games. In fact, it was the worst season of his career since he was reborn as a mainstay in 2018. If Yoo showed a rebound after shaking off some of his slump, however, chances are high that he will have a poorer season than last year if the current trend continues
Roh Jin-hyuk, who struggled with a batting average of 0.190 in seven games during the month of March, rarely rebounded in April, so he went down to the second division once. Later in late April, Roh Jin-hyuk was called back to the first division, and was demoted to the second division without taking advantage of the opportunity that came his way. And this time, it became a call-up with his batting sense rising to the fullest, drawing three arches in four games of the second division. After his return, Roh Jin-hyuk continued to not be bad with three consecutive hits, but began to struggle again, starting with the match against the KIA Tigers on May 21, and experienced the bitter taste of the third cancellation of the year on the 1st.
It is a bitter reality, but despite staying in the second division under Noh Jin-hyuk, the gap in the first division is not felt at all. Although Noh has been away for a long time or has not been helpful to the team, Lotte has been steadily rising since May. In the background, Park Seung-wook has exploded with a batting average of 0.344 with two homers in May and a batting average of 0.346 in June, and Lee Hak-joo is also struggling to survive in the first division. This shows that Lotte’s depth has become solid.
Currently, Noh has not played in the second tier as well. Currently, he has no specific injury. He is unable to play in matches due to his batting sense and physical condition. Now is the time to prepare for the game step by step. It is up to himself to decide whether Noh will become Lotte’s Hidden Card or whether he should consider a card that he does not have this year.