It was Lee Jae-hyun (20) who saved Samsung from a 1-2 deficit in the ninth inning against Hanwha at Daejeon Stadium on April 22.
Lee, who was named to the starting lineup as the eighth outfielder, lined a single to right field to tie the game at 2-2 after Kim Dong-yeop, who led off the game with an infield single, made it 4-2. With momentum on their side, Samsung scored one more run to win the game 5-3.
With the victory, Samsung moved from ninth to eighth place, just one spot ahead of Hanwha. Lee Jae-hyun’s focus has propelled the team up the rankings.
After graduating from Seoul High, Lee was the first pick in the 2022 rookie draft and was touted as the future of the team’s infield.
Last year, his first year in the first team, he established himself by batting .235 with seven home runs and 23 RBIs in 75 games. This year, he played in even more games, 107, and batted .251 with 10 home runs. Only Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (29), born in 2000, has hit double-digit home runs this season among players his age (2003). Lee’s “one-hit wonder” could come in handy for the Asian Games team.토토사이트
The baseball team for the Hangzhou Asian Games in September has a lot of variables, including the loss of Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom) to injury.
In the meantime, the names of candidates to replace him are being thrown around. For Samsung, Kim Hyun-jun has been considered as a potential candidate. The left-handed outfielder, who joined the team in 2021, was one of the hottest hitters in July. He made a name for himself with a .357 batting average and 12 RBIs in 18 games in July.
In August, however, he hasn’t been as potent, hitting just .253 in 18 games. Only Lee Jae-hyun has been hitting better of late, batting .391 in 18 games in August.
The national baseball team is looking closely at potential replacements. In the meantime, Samsung will have a “family feud” between Lee Jae-hyun and Kim Hyun-joon to compete for the taegeuk mark.