The Samsung Lions are in a never-ending downward spiral. It’s safe to say they’re in last place.
It’s even more heartbreaking that they are on the verge of breaking the record for last place in basketball, volleyball, soccer, and now baseball. It’s a hopeless season. The same is true for Samsung fans. It’s a nightmare for Samsung fans, who are proud of the team’s four consecutive losing seasons.
The Samsung Lions’ current struggles are literally down to their pitching staff. Their pitching staff has the lowest WAR in the entire league. Without going into the details, they have the highest frequency of giving up late inning runs. The middle innings and closers are the weakest among the 10 teams. This is evidence of the slow development of their first-round picks. On the flip side, however, there is one thing that Samsung is doing better than the other teams. It’s generational change.
Samsung is the only team out of the 10 to excel in this area.
Generational change is typically much more difficult than pitching. Pitchers are often ready to go when they enter the professional ranks, whereas beasts need to be “fed a lot of taxes,” as the fans say. It’s easy to see why when you think about how long it took Oh Ji-hwan to become the player he is today. Just breaking into the first team isn’t easy for beasts.
But Samsung has already created two league-leading keystone resources in just two years. They are Lee Jae-hyun and Kim Ji-chan. Kim Ji-chan is already a national-level second base resource, succeeding Kim Hye-sung as AG representative. Lee Jae-hyun is the next Oh Ji-hwan, as everyone recognizes. He dominates other rookies in defense. Many people say, “If he is this good as a rookie, he is much better than Park Jin-man when he was my age.” The fact that he is playing in the outfield alone is the only reason why his bat is not hitting. An official said, “Lee Jae-hyun has a lot of dark circles under his eyes. It’s so hard that he’s probably losing his mind.”
Then there are Kim Hyun-joon and Kim Jae-sung. Kim Hyun-joon is hitting .271 with good purity after only playing two games for the Futures after fracturing his fibula. He’s also hit two home runs. In the recent series against KT, he went 3-for-8 with a home run. Kim Hyun-jun was also a key player in the miraculous comeback win against Lotte. He had five hits in eight at-bats, and he did not disappoint.
Kim Jae-sung also had a big game against KT, going 3-for-4 with a home run. His batting average went up to 0.292. At 27, he is in his prime. There is a good chance that Kim will leave the team as a free agent after this year, so he should be the main outfielder from next year.
Kim Young-woong is a player who could be at the peak of his powers. Of course, Kim has had his fair share of defensive mistakes lately. He missed foul flies 토토사이트 and made strange throws that led to runs and contributed to the LG Electronics sweep. He even had a so-called “mental breakdown” during the game. He’s not a first-team player yet, he’s young and raw.
But on the other hand, he also showed a lot of strength. Above all, Kim has a strong shoulder and his bat is slowly adapting to the first team. He hit his first inside-the-park home run of the 2023 season. This proves that his debut home run wasn’t a fluke. Plus, he’s a valuable right-handed hitter. He’s a prime example of a player you should keep and develop. 토토사이트주소
Kim Young-woong, the crown jewel of the new generation of beasts, is a player who must be nurtured unconditionally.