“If you think of the upcoming international competitions, you have to show a good performance starting with the Asian Games.”안전놀이터
Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes), who is likely to participate in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, showed a strong determination.
Lee Jung-hoo, who is also the son of LG Twins coach Lee Jong-beom, a KBO league legend, made his professional debut in 2017 in the Heroes’ uniform. After receiving the Rookie of the Year award that year, he quickly grew into a superstar in the KBO League, winning the Golden Glove for five consecutive years from 2018 to 2022. Until last year, the KBO league’s career performance was a batting average of 0.342, 59 home runs, and 470 RBIs, with an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.902.
Kiwoom Lee Jung-hoo has always been one of the players who are serious about the Taegeuk mark. Photo (Gocheok Seoul) = Reporter Kim Yeong-gu
Taking this as a stepping stone, Lee Jung-hoo plans to advance to the Major League Baseball (MLB) through the posting system when this season is over. At the beginning of this year, it suffered from extreme sluggishness, but recently it has successfully rebounded completely. As of the 9th before the game, his performance is a batting average of 0.294, 6 homers and 31 RBIs in 55 appearances.
In the game against LG in Gocheok on the 8th, Lee Jung-hoo’s performance continued. Starting as center fielder 3 times, he drove 2 runs in 4 at-bats, 2 hits and 3 RBIs, leading Kiwoom to a 13-0 victory.
Lee Jung-hoo, who we met after the game, said, “The feeling of hitting was always good. Now that the results keep following me, it seems to be looking good. I think I have to be careful to keep a good feeling.”
As he said, Lee Jung-hoo suffered bad luck at the beginning of the season when well-hit balls were caught by opposing fielders. On the other hand, these batted balls have recently been linked to hits and have been able to rise.
He said, “At first, I thought it was a pity that too many well-hit balls were caught, but now I didn’t care because too many were caught.” Even when it hit well, it seems to have improved because (the ball) seemed to penetrate the outfield,” he said with a bright smile.
Lee Jung-hoo also enjoyed the joy of breaking 500 RBIs for the 110th time in his KBO League career that day. In particular, it is meaningful to step on this hill at the third-earliest age (24 years, 9 months, 19 days) after Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop (23 years, 8 months, 1 day) and Kim Ha-seong (24 years, 8 months, 14 days, San Diego Padres). added
He said, “RBI is not something you do alone. The runner in front may have to go out. (Today) From the 1st episode, (Kim) Jun-wan hyung and (Kim) Hye-seong got on base, so we were able to set a record. I want to say thank you,” he said. “It is meaningful. From my rookie year to my third year, I was active as a table setter (1st and 2nd batting order), and I was a type that could not be called a mid-to-long-distance hitter. From the age of 23, his long hits increased and his RBIs increased as he played an active role in the center of the batting line. It is an honor to be mentioned along with national hitters and major league players.”
At 2:00 pm on the 9th, the final list of 24 members of the baseball team to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will be held from mid-September to early October, will be revealed. It is very likely that the name of Lee Jung-hoo, who has a unique presence among domestic hitters, will also be on the final entry.
Lee Jung-hoo, who was selected for the first adult national team at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, has since played in the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), which ended in March. He has been active with the Taegeuk mark.
Lee Jung-hoo said, “It seems to have changed a lot from the first time I went to the Asian Games (Jakarta/Palembang).” I didn’t even think I would go because of that, and I wasn’t selected in the beginning. Later, I was selected as a substitute,” he said, looking back at the time he was first selected for the adult national team.
He added, “Things are different now. He said, “It is not important to be selected, it is important to go and get good grades. I think the players selected tomorrow should not get hurt until the Asian Games and perform well in the league,” he emphasized.
Unfortunately, Korea did not perform well in most of the competitions where Lee Jung-hoo was a national representative. At the Tokyo Olympics, he stayed in fourth place and suffered the humiliation of a no medal, and at the WBC, he had to face the humiliation of being eliminated in the first round in three consecutive events following 2013 and 2017. Lee Jung-hoo, who personally performed well in the competitions, but couldn’t laugh due to Korea’s poor fight, was also determined.
“Among the players who will go with you, there will be players who have been in the WBC together. Asian Games should not be taken lightly. The Asian Games are also important competitions. If you think about future international competitions, I think you have to show a good performance starting with the Asian Games.” Those were the words of Lee Jung-hoo.
