“He played dozens of times his salary.”
On the last day of the season, Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho spoke about infielder Lee Do-yoon (27), saying, “He makes a little more than 30 million won a year, but he played over 100 games and contributed to the team. I think he’s the best in terms of contribution to salary. He performed dozens of times his salary. When players like this do well, they should be paid a lot of money, which motivates them and gives hope to those around them,” he said, adding that he expects his salary to rise next year.
This year, Lee’s salary was only 34 million won. This is slightly more than the minimum salary of 30 million won. He is a nine-year pro who joined the team in 2015, 카지노사이트킴 but until last year, he had only played 152 games in the first team. He spent more time in the second team than the first team and had few opportunities to increase his salary. As the team’s fourth outfielder and all-weather backup in the infield, expectations were not high.
This year, however, Lee took advantage of a hard-earned opportunity. With starting shortstop Ha Joo-seok suspended for 70 games after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol, Park Jung-hyun, the first prospect to get a chance to play, was slow to develop. Veteran Oh Sun-jin played shortstop, but suffered a hamstring injury in mid-May and struggled defensively, so Lee Do-yoon stepped in.
Lee made his first call-up to the first team on May 20, and his steady defense kept him in the center of the infield.
As his at-bats increased, so did his bat. He batted like an Altoran in the bottom eight or nine of the batting order. From the end of June, Hanwha went on an eight-game winning streak for the first time in 18 years, with Lee Do-yoon at the center of it. In mid-July, Ha Joo-seok returned to the first team after his suspension was lifted, but Lee refused to relinquish his starting shortstop spot and saw the season through to the end.
In 106 games, the most since his rookie year, he batted .309 (78-for-309) with one home run, 13 RBI, 16 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Through Sept. 2, he was 2-for-9 with a triple, but he struggled down the stretch, hitting just 1-for-17 (.173). However, Hanwha’s turnaround would not have been possible without the unexpected performance of Lee Do-yoon at shortstop.
“I played a little over 100 games this year,” said Lee Do-yoon, who attended the final camp in Miyazaki, Japan, after the season. It was a year that was not easy to judge myself yet. When things were going well, they were going well without end, but when things weren’t going well, they were going down at once. Even when things were going well, there was an anxiety of ‘will I fall’. In the second half of the season, I relaxed with the mindset of ‘let’s work hard on defense’. I was like, ‘I still have a long way to go,'” he said.
Shortstop is a position where defense is paramount.
In 97 games (90 starts) and 746 innings at shortstop, he made just eight errors. His 97.8% fielding percentage was second only to KT’s Kim Sang-soo (98.6%) among the 10 shortstops with at least 500 innings. It’s not easy to accurately evaluate defense based on stats, but Lee has done a good job catching hard-to-catch pitches while remaining steady.
He said, “I think I have more strength in defense than hitting. I practiced defense a lot. I took more punches than others because I had to play multiple positions. The coaches also taught me how to react to certain situations. Based on that, I thought ahead and practiced, so my actual play was better than I thought,” he explained.
It was also the first time he had played continuously with the first team since mid-May. “I was tired at the end of the season, but I think that’s an excuse. I hadn’t played many games in the first team, so it was hard to know how to handle it when it was bad. I asked a lot of my veteran brothers, and I learned what exercises to do and how to manage when I’m not feeling well.” “I don’t think I’m a starter yet. I have to compete again. 스포츠토토사이트 I’m not a starter until I go to the three-year pool. I will compete next year with the same mindset as this year,” he said.
Ha Joo-seok, who struggled in the first team this year due to practicality issues,
He will be back next year with sharpened knives. Lee Do-yoon is not far behind. “I don’t want to be a flash in the pan, I want to continue my good form. Next year, I need to do better than this year in every aspect. It’s only been a year since I played baseball in the first team, but I was so disappointed when the season ended. (Noh) Si-hwan also played so well, but he was disappointed. They say that there is no player who is not disappointed when the season ends. Next year, I want to make it a season with less regret.”