The interview was conducted with a smile that conveyed the thrill of a come-from-behind home run. Then, signs of worry began to appear again. Home runs are good, but not all that good.
SSG Landers shortstop Park Seong-han’s worry is home runs. And with that home run, SSG achieved a thrilling comeback victory over the KT Wiz.
SSG won 6 to 5 with Park Seong-han’s two-run shot in the top of the 9th inning in an away game against KT held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 10th. Trailing 3-5 in the top of the 9th inning, Choi Ji-hoon’s triple and Choi Jeong’s timely hit pushed them to 4-5, and then Park Seong-han hit KT closer Kim Jae-yoon’s 145km fastball and hit a two-run gun. In the bottom of the 9th inning, closer Seo Jin-yong ended the game with no hits, 1 walk, and no runs, ending the team’s 3-game losing streak.
Park Seong-han smiled and gave an interview to the reporters. Park Seong-han, who said, “The thrill of a comeback is always good,” said, “The moment it hit, I thought it was big. About 70% of the time I thought it was a hit, and about 30% of the time I thought it was a home run.”
He went 0-hit in 3 at-bats with Kim Jae-yoon this season, so he was armed with a positive mind. Park Seong-han said, “I tried to gain confidence by thinking that it was time to come out because there were no hits,” and “I kept thinking about the previous results, but I went out confidently with the thought of forgetting about them quickly and focusing only on the at-bat now.”
I aimed for a fastball. Park Seong-han said, “Senior Kim Jae-yoon also throws a forkball, but if he aims for a forkball, he can’t respond to a fastball, so I went out with the thought that I would just adjust the timing to the fastball and respond to the forkball.” Park Seong-han said, “(Choi) Ji-hoon threw a lot yesterday, so his fastball lost power.” “They said it was the same, but when I saw it in person, the ball was better than I thought. So I paid more attention and hit it.”
Park Seong-han recorded a batting average of .302 in 2021 when he played full-time, and last year he had a strong feeling of a substitute hitter, recording .209 and 8, but this year his batting average has dropped to 2.6 and 8. Instead, there were only 2 home runs last year, but this year there were 9, leaving only 1 of his first double-digit home runs in his debut.스포츠토토
It’s stress. Park Seong-han said, “It’s not stressing that my batting average has dropped, but I’m hitting a lot of extra-base hits. I’m not a 20-home run hitter, and I don’t have a desire for home runs, and I want to hit a lot, but I’m getting home runs, but my batting average is dropping, so it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because I didn’t intend it.” “There are a lot of batted balls and bad results, so I have a lot to worry about,” he said.
He believes that his batting style is to get on base more by hitting more hits than making extra-base hits. Park Seong-han said, “I think I’ll have to practice and find my way in the end,” and added, “I hit a home run today, but I didn’t mean to hit a home run. I tried to hit it short, but it connected well and I ended up hitting a home run.”
He said, “Baseball is too difficult. I think I need to practice a lot,” and quickly packed his equipment.