온라인바카라1 Lee Jin-young, 2 Kim In-hwan, 3 Noh Si-hwan, 4 Nick Williams, 5 Chae Eun-sung. This is the starting line-up for the Hanwha Eagles against the Samsung Lions in Daegu on the 2nd.
It is the same batting order for the fifth consecutive game since the 27th against the KT Wiz in Daejeon. There are no changes since Williams made her first appearance at No. 4 on the 27th. Until Williams’ arrival, Noh Si-hwan, Chae Eun-sung and Moon Hyun-bin made up the clean-up trio at No. 3-5.
Lee Jin-young and Kim In-hwan had good power but struck out a lot. Hitters with good power usually have poor contact skills, and they weren’t the type of hitters who had good on-base percentages, but that was until last season.
There’s a reason why Lee Jin-young and Kim In-hwan, who both have good long balls, were moved forward.
“A home run hitter is much more threatening to a pitcher than a good hitter,” said Choi Won-ho. It helps the offence to have a strong hitter in the batting order at least once. We often end up batting first or second in the batting order, so we took that into consideration.”
Noh Si-hwan at No. 3 provides an umbrella effect. During the eight-game winning streak, Lee Jin-young had 11 hits, one home run and six RBIs, Kim In-hwan at No. 2 had 10 hits, one home run and 10 RBIs, and No. 3 had 11 hits, five home runs and 10 RBIs. Kim In-hwan hit three grand slams and Noh hit two.
It feels like an expanded centre-field line-up.
The reason for batting Williams in the fourth spot is similar. Opposing pitchers will have no choice but to face Williams with Chae Eun-sung in mind. Unlike Brian O’Grady, who was released, Williams has good contact and power.
As of the 2nd, 15 of the 28 players on the roster are pitchers. That’s one or two fewer outfielders than any other team. The team has utility players Moon Hyun-bin, Kim Tae-yeon and Kwon Kwang-min who can play infield and outfield.
Choi says, “If I had more players, I would be thinking about making substitutions late in the game. I try to leave it to the players as much as possible.”