“Even for the players who work hard in the 2nd team…”
SSG infielder Choi Hang (29) was called up to the 1st team ahead of the home game against KT in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 4th. First round of the season. An SSG official I met before the game said, “Choi Hang continues to show good hitting, and he is creating a high batting average and many hits in the Futures League.” In fact, Choi Hang hit a batting average of 0.396 (19 hits in 48 bats) in 15 Futures League games this year, and swept 10 RBIs.
His sense of climax in the Futures League was fully demonstrated on the first day of his return to the first team. Choi Hang was named in the starting lineup as the 7th batter (first baseman) that day, and hit a home run in his first at-bat at the end of the 1st inning. With SSG leading 2-0, Choi Hang, who stepped into the plate with a chance to run on first and second base, hit the opponent’s starting pitcher Bo Schul-Seo’s second fastball with a speed of 149km/h as if he had been waiting for it, and hit a 3-run homer that went over the left wall. didㅋㅋㅋ벳. It was 961 days since Choi Hang hit a home run in a regular season game against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on September 15, 2020.
Choi Hang made his debut on the 1st team stage in 2017, and until last year played in 283 games in the 1st team, posting a batting average of 0.272, 10 homers and 88 RBIs. However, he failed to establish himself as a regular starter in the first team. So, at the spring camp held in Florida, USA, and Okinawa, Japan, in February this year, Choi Hang sweated with a determination to ‘surely secure a spot in the starting lineup’. However, in the spring camp practice game, the batting average was 0.167 in 4 evaluation matches, and in the following demonstration game, he came out in 13 games, but was sluggish with a batting average of 0.050, and to make matters worse, his health deteriorated, and he eventually opened the season in the 2nd team.
Choi Hang, who was struggling in the second team, made a multi-hit hit in the 7th inning that day as well. SSG won a 10-2 victory with hot hits such as two home runs. After the game, Choi Hang said, “I prepared to hit the center exactly from the 2nd team. I came here to hit a home run that I couldn’t hit in the 2nd team, so I thought, ‘I’m ready!’ It was a good thing to do,” he said.
“The moment I hit the home run, I remembered the coaches and juniors who worked hard together in the 2nd team. There are many friends who are struggling without getting a chance even if they do well in the 2nd team. “I hope juniors don’t look at tomorrow and fight as they always do. I’m also planning to continue what I did in the 2nd Army.