He was a top prospect in South Korea. Everyone was excited about the arrival of a big shortstop. Major League Baseball clubs also thought highly of him. Instead of the KBO draft, he chose to try out for the major leagues. Many people were very interested in the challenge of Park Hyo-joon (27, Atlanta). The question was whether he would be able to break through the barrier of the infield.
After a stint in the minors, the light seemed to be shining. He finally made his major league debut in a New York Yankees uniform in 2021, and was traded to Pittsburgh shortly thereafter. The Pirates, then and now a rebuilding team, were diligently experimenting with young infielders and gave Park a try. He played in 44 games after the trade.
In those 44 games, he batted .197 with a .299 on-base percentage, three home runs, 14 RBIs, and 16 runs scored. It wasn’t a promising start, but his power was better than expected and his on-base percentage (.299) was more than a full percentage higher than his batting average. The expectation was for more playing time in 2022, but the major leagues are always competitive. Pittsburgh had a number of infielders waiting in the wings besides Park, and the opportunity was slipping away.
In 2022, Park bounced back and forth between the major leagues and the minors. He was promoted to the majors, sent down to Triple-A, promoted again, and demoted again. In the process, he only played 23 games at the major league level in 2022. He had to fight through it, but his performance wasn’t much better than in 2021. In November 2022, he was traded again to Boston.
He hoped to succeed in Boston, but it didn”t work out. Soon after, he was designated for assignment (DFA) to make room on the roster for the recently acquired Kenley Jansen, and then traded to Atlanta. In Atlanta, I was also DFA’d and eventually sent down to the minors. I thought that if I worked hard, I would have a chance, but that wasn’t the case. Bad luck is bad enough. Luckily, Atlanta is doing well.
I worked hard in Triple-A waiting for a call-up. As of July 7, I had played 89 games in Triple-A. It’s clear that the team is keeping him on the bench as a contingency plan. In 89 games, he’s not doing too badly. He has a .272 batting average, five home runs, and 39 RBIs. His on-base percentage is even higher than his batting average, at .393. His OPS, which is the sum of his slugging percentage and on-base percentage, is .782, which is a huge jump from last year (.686).
But there are no holes in the Atlanta infield. It’s too well set up. One of the best teams in the league this season, Atlanta is loaded with young, talented hitters. The infield starts at first base with Matt Olson, AJ Alvis, Orlando Garcia, and Austin Riley. The outfield has Ronald Acuña Jr, Michael Harris, and Eddie Rosario. There were no major injuries. The entire lineup hit double-digit home runs, including catcher Sean Murphy. There’s no room to maneuver.
As a result, he hasn’t been called up to the majors once this year and is languishing in Triple-A. It was all good until he was traded to Boston, a team with a shortage of infielders, and then he was traded to Atlanta, where he’s been stuck in Triple-A ever since. If he had been traded to another team with an infield shortage, or if there had been an injury in the Atlanta infield, he might have been in a better situation.
Going forward. He hasn’t performed well in the major leagues this year. If he does hit the market, chances are other teams won’t view him as favorably. In the meantime, he’s getting older. He’ll be 28 next year. There’s no word yet on his military service. This year, the major leagues were in sight, so he could choose to take the challenge. But now he has to deal with a heavier reality.토스카지노
The truth is, based on his performance in Triple-A, he’s a wasted resource in Triple-A. Because of this, he can either continue to try for the major leagues, or he can choose to return to Korea. Either way, it’s not easy. Promoting to the major leagues is a matter of luck, as we saw this year. If you want to continue your professional career in South Korea, you’ll have to endure a two-year grace period. After that, you’re 30. It will be interesting to see if Park can pull off a dramatic turnaround this year.