Instead of giving up native starter Choi Won-tae to LG, Kiwoom won the first round draft picks for Lee Ju-hyung, Kim Dong-kyu (pitcher) and 2024 KBO Rookie Draft.

After the trade, Lee Joo-hyung met with reporters at Gocheok and confessed, “I felt sorry for Kiwoom fans without realizing it because a rookie class came to Kiwoom, which sent Ace.” Kiwoom fans welcomed the joining of Lee Joo-hyung, who has excellent batting ability, but the person involved was daunted by the feeling of sorry for some reason.

Lee successfully cleaned up his frustration with a hot hit. He played in 51 games as a member of Kiwoom last year, posting a batting average of 0.330, six homers, 34 RBIs and an OPS of 0.911. Kiwoom fans cheered at the emergence of a young and competent center fielder to replace Lee Jung-hoo, who will leave for the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB).

Lee Joo-hyung is showing off his “crazy hitting sense” at the forefront of Kiwoom’s batting lineup this year. He was late to start due to a thigh muscle injury, and he joined the starting lineup from the match against Samsung in Daegu on the 2nd and has been hitting hard. The bat is so hot that the batting average in five games reaches 0.524.

Kiwoom, which was evaluated as the “weakest” before the opening of the season, is currently ranked third (7 wins and 4 losses) in the league with seven consecutive wins. Lee Joo-hyung showed off his enormous presence not only in offense but also in defense. In the match against Hanwha in Gocheok on the 7th, Chae Eun-sung’s big hit into the outfield in the top of the 10th inning with two outs and runners on first and third bases in the top of the 10th inning, when the game was tied 3-3, he chased the ball to the end and even caught it when he hit the fence. Kiwoom, which overcame the crisis of losing a point, won a thrilling 4-3 victory with Kim Hye-sung’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Regarding his good batting condition after his return, Lee Joo-hyung said, “I kept trying to make a lot of in-play hits,” adding, “I gained a lot of confidence as I got a good hit.”

Since joining Kiwoom last year, Lee has earned the nickname the “second Lee Jung-hoo.” He is the same right-handed, left-handed center fielder and has good batting ability. He also has ties with Lee Jung-hoo’s father, former LG coach Lee Jong-beom. Lee has taken special care of Lee since he was a LG player, sending congratulatory messages on Lee’s birthday on the 2nd.

Lee Ju-hyeong is constantly watching videos of Lee Jung-hoo’s batting. “(Lee) Jung-hoo) has a pretty swing and stable batting posture no matter who looks at it. As he doesn’t have any miscellaneous movements at the plate, he seems to have good handling of all balls. I have been watching a lot of videos of Jung-hoo and referring to it.”

At the same time, Lee shook his head at the description “post Lee Jung-hoo.” “Copying Jeong-hoo won’t make me look like Jeong-hoo,” Lee said. “I think positively that if I just make progress, I will become a better player than I did last year.” 토토사이트