Kiwoom Director Hong Won-ki, ‘Chinese Restaurant Dinner Effect’ in full swing with the performance of the three foreign musketeers

Kiwoom Director Hong Won-ki, ‘Chinese Restaurant Dinner Effect’ in full swing with the performance of the three foreign musketeers

Blog Article

This season, many professional baseball teams are suffering from poor performance and injuries of foreign players.

SSG Landers, Doosan Bears, and Hanwha Eagles have replaced foreign players or used short-term replacement foreign

players, and LG Twins, which is in second place in the regular season, also plans to replace one of its foreign pitchers.

Since foreign players are the core of the team's power, if they underperform or get injured, the manager is under

tremendous stress.

Kiwoom Heroes manager Hong Won-ki has no time to be stressed like this.

Kiwoom's foreign starting pitcher, Enmanuel De Geisus, had an exceptional first half record of 10 wins, 4 losses, and an

ERA of 3.14, and Ariel Jurado also had a good record of 8 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 3.33 in 17 appearances.

As of the 3rd, Heisus is first in wins and third in the league in ERA. Hurado is fifth in ERA.

The performance of foreign hitter Ronnie Dawson, who joined last year as a replacement for Addison Russell, is also

outstanding.

Dawson has a batting average of 0.361, 10 home runs, and 44 RBIs in 76 games through the 3rd. He ranks first in batting

average in the KBO League.

Dawson is receiving the lowest salary ($600,000) among the foreign players in the 2024 KBO League, but he is showing

overwhelming performance and making manager 추천 Hong Won-ki smile.

Ahead of the home game against the LG Twins at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 4th, Manager Hong Won-ki recalled,

"I had a meal at a Chinese restaurant with the three players before the opening of this season," regarding the performance

of foreign players.

Coach Hong said, "At the time, I told the players, 'We don't think of you as mercenaries, we think of you as family,' and

asked them, 'There are many young players on the team, so please lead the team well.' The three players did not forget that

request and held the team together well."

He also added, "We think of the three players as family," and "I think this mindset and the team atmosphere also affect our

performance."

Kiwoom remains in last place with 35 wins and 45 losses as of the 3rd.

However, Kiwoom has recently been on an upward trend, winning six straight games and trailing 5th place SSG Landers

by five games.

Since the gap between the two is not that big, they can move up to the top ranks at any time.

Coach Hong Won-ki said, "A winning streak or a losing streak is determined by small differences," and added, "When our

team was on a losing streak, we often fell apart in close matches, but through this process, the young players gained a lot of

experience. That's why there is hope for the second half."

When asked to name one player who was the best player on the team in the first half, he mentioned backup catcher Kim

Jae-hyun.

Manager Hong Won-ki praised Kim Jae-hyun, saying, "Kim Jae-hyun led the foreign pitchers well and did a good job on

defense. He played a big role in raising the team spirit."