Doosan Bears’ fourth hitter Kim Jae-hwan (33) broke the silence and helped the team escape from a losing streak.
Doosan won the match against Hanwha Eagles in the 2021 KBO League 9-1 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 20th. Along with escaping from a three-game losing streak, he decorated his first match of three consecutive weekends as a victory.
The highlight of the game was starting pitcher Ariel Miranda (32). Doosan was able to solve the game easily as Miranda overwhelms Hanwha’s lineup with a perfect pitch in 7 innings.
The table setters Park Geon-woo (31) and Park Gye-beom (26) also energized the batting line by hitting just the right time in an active on-base and scoring situation. Doosan broke the chain of losing streak with a complete win.
| ^ Doosan Bears #4 hitter Kim Jaehwan played an active part in the Jamsil Hanwha Eagles on the 20th with 2 hits and 3 RBIs in 5 at-bats. Photo (Jamsil, Seoul) = Reporter Kim Young-gu |
Kim Jae-hwan’s multi-hit was also one of the harvests. Kim Jae-hwan started as the 4th batter and left fielder and contributed to the team’s victory with 2 hits and 3 RBIs in 5 at-bats. In the bottom of the 5th inning, he played the role of a central hitter by hitting a single RBI on 1st and 3rd base and hitting a double RBI from 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th.
By improving the feeling of hitting that had been slowed down with no hits in the last three games, I was able to prepare for the weekend game with a more relaxed mind.
Kim Jae-hwan was sluggish with a batting average of 0.227 in 22 at-bats in 7 games in the second half before the match against Hanwha. In the first half, the batting average of 0.271, 16 homers and 58 RBIs, seemed to have left a disappointing aftermath.
Doosan is struggling with ranking this year as Jae-Il Oh (36, Samsung Lions) and Joo-Hwan Choi (33, SSG Landers) left the team after the end of last season, and the weight of the batting line has decreased and even Kim Jae-hwan has fallen into a slump this year.
Doosan manager Kim Tae-hyeong (54) was also frustrated. Before the game on the 20th, coach Kim said, “There is a lot of talk about Kim Jae-hwan (score-related) this year.” Performance is important this year, too, when a lot of central hitters are out, but I think I feel a lot of pressure. It is also true that I and the team want a lot.”
However, coach Kim is in the position that Kim Jae-hwan has to overcome difficulties as a team veteran and key player. “Kim Jae-hwan is a little bit more batting than he is now, but all his grades need to go up,” he emphasized.
Kim Jae-hwan succeeded in rebounding to some extent in the match where the team lost a streak as if reading the mind of the commander. Next week, we have the task of raising the pace a little bit more until the 3rd consecutive week against the fourth-placed NC Dinos, who will be a watershed in the mid-range next week.
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