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"I thought I would burst one day." The 66-year-old master, a famed pullback who is about to lose his chance, and a slugger with a career batting average of 0.320 and 311 home runs all felt the same way. Jang Jin-hyuk (31) of the Hanwha Eagles had a common expectation. 안전놀이터
In an away game between the Doosan Bears and the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, Jang started as center fielder for sixth batter, and led his team to a 7-4 win by posting four hits, one walk, four RBIs and one run from four times at bat including a three-run homer in the first inning. The fifth base is the new record for the most on-base hits in an individual game.
Through this, Hanwha maintained its seventh position with 54 wins, 60 losses and two draws. It maintained its gap versus the fifth place (KT Wiz), which is the last line for the fall baseball league, at two games. At the last minute, the team made significant contributions to reviving the hope of fall baseball.
Jang Jin-hyuk, who spent his elementary, middle and high school years in Gwangju, became the 39th player to wear the Hanwha uniform in the second round of the fourth round in 2016 after serving at Dankook University. Based on his outstanding hitting ability, fast feet, and strong shoulders, he drew expectations as a tool player, but failed to burst his potential.
He underwent knee surgery in his debut season and had to spend a lot of time on rehabilitation due to elbow problems the next year. After changing his position to an outfielder in 2018, he raised expectations, but the results were not good. His best performance was to record a batting average of 0.254 in 113 games in 2019. He played in 41 games in 2022 after he returned after solving the military service problem as a social service worker, and only hit 0.222 in 68 games last year. His salary, which is well over 30 years old but only 58 million won, was talking about his past career.
Jang, who had spent four to six days in the second division through May this season, is facing a turning point after Kim Kyung-moon (66) took office in early June. Kim paid attention to players with outstanding potential and consistently gave Jang opportunities.
Jang has a batting average of 0.266, nine homers, 36 RBIs, 45 runs and 11 steals in 71 games, and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.785. His batting average in scoring has shown remarkable concentration with 0.322, and in particular, he has led Hanwha's rise with a batting average of 0.370 (20 hits in 54 times at bat) and five homers and 15 RBIs in 17 games in August.
He had the best game of his life. Jang took the batter's box with runners on the first and third bases with two outs in the bottom of the first inning when his team was leading 1-0, and hit a three-run home run over the right fence by hitting a fork ball that was five pitches high by Keisho Shirakawa. It was his ninth hit of the season. He is nearing his first double-digit home run in eight years since joining the team in 2016.
Jang, who had a hit to the left in the third inning, also had a clean hit with one out and a third base in the fifth inning, widening the score to 6-1. Jang, who hit a forkball by Jeong Cheol-won in the seventh inning to complete a four-hit game with a right-handed hit, took the leadoff batter in the ninth inning and even drew a walk to play his first five-base game.
Jang was picked by his seniors early on. When Kang Min-ho, 39, appeared on Kim Tae-kyun's YouTube channel in December last year and asked to select a player he is interested in from Samsung and Hanwha, he picked Jang Jin-hyuk from Hanwha along with Samsung's rookie pitcher Yuk Sun-yeop.
"Whenever I come to the batter's box, I always say 'Do it with a smile'," Kang said. He has good ability to cope with breaking balls. He has good shoulders and quick feet. He was just too introverted. "I think I can do it well if I change my personality," Kang said. "I've never played as a team before, but I always stay quiet, whether I get a hit or get out.""When I saw him as a rookie, I was like, 'Amazing. I think he will win the Rookie of the Year award within three years. Do your best. He deserves it," Kim said. "It took more than 10 years. I think he will burst if something changes."
The two nodded together, saying Jang Jin-hyuk's swing was an art. The two batters who made a mark on professional baseball were accurate. It was a little late, but they are finally showing their full skills.
"I still have anxiety (about my location). I think I became a little stronger last year by going back and forth (in the first team and Futures)," Jang said in an interview with Eagles TV, Hanwha's official YouTube channel, after the game. "I'm so grateful that I can finish the game until the end."
Regarding the remaining double-digit home run, he said, "I think it's better to focus on the process and focus on the moment than to have confidence. I'm going to do my best to focus on tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and until the end of the season."
Jang Jin-hyuk, who looked back on the autumn baseball he experienced in 2018, said, "We have 28 games left, and I hope we can contribute to the best and go to the fall baseball."