Two ‘genius’ batters representing Japanese professional baseball crossed the Pacific Ocean with good treatment side by side with a year in between. For a while, the perception that “Asian beasts are difficult to survive in the major leagues” has been circulating again, so it is quite meaningful.
Ahead of the 2022 season, Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs) signed a contract for 5 years and 85 million dollars (about 110.8 billion won), and ahead of this season, Masataka Yoshida (Boston) signed a contract for 5 years and 90 million dollars (117.3 billion won). It hit the jackpot and entered the American stage. In the case of moving from the Asian league to the major leagues, Suzuki and Yoshida set new records in terms of total contracts in turn.
The two players have one thing in common: they are outfielders and have various ‘tools’. If you quantify the individual abilities of baseball players and make a pentagon, these players have an even graph in which none of them fall significantly even if they do not get a perfect score in any one. That’s why it is evaluated as “no matter how bad it is, it won’t be a big failure.”
The good treatment the two players received can be a great motivation for Lee Jung-hoo (25, Kiwoom), who will advance to the major league stage through the posting system (private competitive bidding) later this season. Like the previous two players, Lee Jeong-hoo is also a player with a beautifully drawn pentagon.
Of course, there is a difference in league level between Japan and Korea, but decisively Lee Jung-hoo is much younger than the two players. Suzuki signed with a major league team at the age of 28 and Yoshida at the age of 30. Lee Jung-hoo’s major league season begins at the age of 26. Young age is not the official position, but the difference in contracts is enormous. 보증놀이터 This is because there is a clear advantage of being able to draw out and use all of the heyday.
Lee Jung-hoo also said that he had met Yoshida and the national team several times during the year-end awards ceremony last year, saying, “I refer to Yoshida a lot. It strikes accurately while possessing power. He has few strikeouts and walks a lot,” he said, choosing him as one of his role models.
The two players communicate through social network service (SNS). Yoshida also hoped for Lee Jung-hoo to successfully enter the major leagues. After the team training on the 18th (Korean time), Yoshida met with ‘Sport TV News’ and said, “I know Lee Jung-hoo. He also contacted me through Instagram,” he said happily, “I heard that you are coming to the major leagues next year. I hope we can meet (in the major leagues).”