“If I keep throwing them out, I’ll be able to hit them comfortably.”
The KT Wiz used Lee’s offense to win against the Lotte Giants on June 6. On May 19, KT acquired Lee from Lotte in a one-for-one trade for left-handed pitcher Shim Jae-min, and for the first time since the trade, Lee took the mound on May 6.
Lee took his first at-bat in the top of the second inning with runners on first and second base. Lee greeted the Lotte fans who had been supporting him and received encouraging applause from the Lotte fans.
In her first at-bat, Lee made sure to give her hometown Lotte a run for their money. In a 1B2S at-bat, he pulled a fastball from Lotte starter Park Se-woong for a leadoff single to center field.
Lotte manager Larry Sutton reviewed the game from seven days earlier and said, “Lee Ho-yeon is strong against fastballs, but it was a shame that he threw a fastball for two strikes.”
KT head coach Lee Kang-cheol praised Lee, saying, “The players who were traded in a strange way always hit the game-winning hit or an important moment.” Lee has been acclimatizing to the first team with frequent starts since the trade.
After a tremendous batting performance in the Futures League, where he batted 4-for-33 (29-for-67), Lee is now batting 2-for-8 (10-for-42) with one home run and five RBIs in 14 games with the first team since joining KT via trade. That’s not quite the same as his performance in the second team 스포츠토토.
However, Lee plans to keep Lee in the lineup. “He hit well in the second team, and I remember him hitting well when he played against us last year, so I have a good impression of him,” Lee said. “He seems to be weak against left-handed pitchers, but he needs to keep playing. If he keeps playing, he’ll feel more comfortable, so I think he’ll be better.” This means that if you keep playing him even if he is not performing well, he will not be chased psychologically and it will have a good effect on his batting.
KT has been searching for a second baseman to take over from Park Kyung-soo, but the results have been less than stellar. Last year, they tried Oh Yoon-seok, but he didn’t hit very well, and this year, they tried several players at second base, but no one seemed to be able to overtake Park. They finally brought in Lee Ho-yeon via trade and are giving him a chance. He has a knack for hitting, and if he can adjust to the first team, I think he’ll be able to hit as well as expected.
Still, after batting just 1-for-7 in 10 games in May (5-for-29), Lee is batting 3-for-8 in four games in June (5-for-13).
After hitting the game-winning hit against his hometown team, it’s clear that Lee has a chance to earn a spot in the second team, something he hasn’t had much of with Lotte.