Hanwha’s Achilles heel ‘right fielder’, will Chae Eun-seong solve it?

Hanwha, who suffered the humiliation of the lowest place for three consecutive years. After catching internal free agent Jang Si-hwan in the free agency market this time, starting with external free agent Chae Eun-seong, Lee Tae-yang and Oh Seon-jin were successfully recruited, and they started to aim for next season’s performance.

In particular, the recruitment of Chae Eun-seong is attracting attention. Chae Eun-seong invested a whopping 9 billion won over the six-year contract period.

One of the reasons why Hanhwa suffered the lowest humiliation for three consecutive years was that the right fielder’s performance was not good. Looking at the batting average of the right field team, they were all at the bottom with 0.234 in 2020, 0.187 in 2021, and 0.214 this season.

The same goes for defense. Looking at WAA (defensive win contribution) alone, -1.051 (8th) in 2020, -0.659 (5th) in 2021, and -1.105 (6th) this season were all negative numbers.

There were only 10 players who played right field for Hanwha this season. In particular, there were 9 domestic players, and all of them showed below expectations.

At the beginning of the season, Kim Tae-yeon, who showed more than expected last season, was given a chance. He even changed positions to right fielder in spring camp. However, he only completed 46 plate appearances, and his performance was a failure with a batting average of 0.186 OPS 0.450 (on-base percentage 0.217 + slugging percentage 0.233) with 8 hits, 3 RBIs and 3 runs in 43 at-bats. On defense, he pitched 94 innings in 14 games, giving up one error. WAA was negative at -0.304.

The player with the most at-bats was Lee Jin-young (196 at-bats), who was acquired in a trade from KIA. However, he showed a 메이저놀이터 disappointing performance with 35 hits in 180 at-bats (6 homers), 24 RBIs, 21 runs, a batting average of 0.194 and an OPS of 0.589 (0.245 on-base percentage + 0.344 slugging percentage). On defense, he pitched 414.2 innings over 54 games, giving up one error. WAA was negative at -0.389.

The next player with the most at-bats was Jang Jin-hyeok (113 at-bats). His performance was 25 hits (2 home runs) in 99 at-bats, 14 RBIs, 11 runs, a batting average of 0.253, an OPS of 0.655 (0.321 on-base percentage + 0.333 slugging percentage). On defense, he played 249 innings in 36 games and showed regret with 4 errors. WAA is 0.084.

In addition, opportunities were given to young players such as Jang Un-ho, Lim Jong-chan, and Eurogyeol, but they failed to completely satisfy coach Subero.

So Chae Eun-sung’s performance is expected to be important next season. Chae Eun-seong is a veteran who played 711 out of 1006 games in 9 seasons, only as a right fielder. He played 5313 innings with 14 errors. However, the fact that WAA is a negative number at -3.584 overall is clear.

This season, he played a lot at first base, but also pitched 33 innings in eight games in right field, recording a no-loss record. WAA is -0.002.

Regarding the right fielder position, Chae Eun-seong said, “Until last year, my position was right fielder. However, I think I will have to prepare hard whether I am right fielder or first baseman. That will be of great help to Hanwha including me. I will do my best to look good.” .

Chae Eun-seong, who will be starting his first season at Hanwha next season. Currently, there is a good chance that he will play as the starting right fielder. Can the right fielder, Chae Eun-seong, who is like an itchy part for Hanwha, scratch it?

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