“It would be nice to score more runs.”
LG Twins outfielder Hong Chang-ki, 30, has regained his slugging touch this season, shaking off the slump he experienced last season. He batted .286 with 125 hits, one home run, and 51 RBIs in 118 games last season as injuries plagued him.
That’s not bad, but in 2021, after starting every game in the league, Hong hit .328 with 172 hits, four home runs and 54 RBIs, winning the outfield Golden Glove. He also cut his walks from 109 to 59, and his on-base percentage dropped from 0.456 to 0.390.
Hong has rebounded. In 93 of the team’s 94 games, he is batting .330 with 116 hits, 46 RBIs, 72 runs scored and a .450 on-base percentage. He is ranked first in walks, second in runs scored, third in hits, and seventh in stolen bases, giving LG’s batting lineup a big boost.
When we met at Lions Park in Daegu on June 6, Hong said, “I think I feel the same as I did two years ago, but I feel better this year. It’s not the number of hits I’ve gotten, but the way I feel when I step up to the plate. I feel more confident.” “It’s not that my style has changed. I watched videos of when I was good and thought about why I was good then. It’s good to see results at the plate,” he laughed.
Last season’s slump, not a slump, made Hong even stronger.
“Last year, I was injured, I was off-balance, and I was impatient. I don’t think the 3.9 OPS was actually low, but my previous record was so good that I felt like I was being judged as a one-year flash in the pan, so I tried to work harder, and when it didn’t work out, I tried to find videos of when it did.”
As a result of trying, trying, trying, and sweating, he is now writing a record that is as good as 2021. At this rate, he’s on pace to shatter his personal record of 109 strikeouts from the 2021 season. He also has 28 doubles, one shy of his career high of 29.
However, he said, “The pioneering part of it is that as I continue to play, it grows. 109 strikeouts is ridiculous. You’re supposed to get one a game, but it was ridiculous then, even if I think about it now. I don’t think it’s going to be easy this year,” he laughed, adding, “I don’t know why I hit so many doubles. I don’t hit them because I want to, but I think it’s because I’m hitting the ball harder than I did last year,” he smiled.
When asked, “What record would you most like to break,” he mentioned scoring runs. Currently the second highest run-scorer in the league, Hong finished the 2021 season with 103 runs, second only to Samsung Lions’ Koo Ja-uk (107).
He said, “I want to score more points. It’s good to go out, but it’s better for the team if you come in. If I score more points, I think we can win in 2021,” he laughed.안전놀이터
In conclusion, Hong said, “Last year, I lost a lot of matches because I wasn’t in good shape. I need to play a lot to help the team.” “There are still a lot of matches left. Even if we are in first place, there is no guarantee. I will focus on one game at a time until the end.”