As the KT Wiz of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) continues to surge to the top of the standings despite a string of injuries to their main players, their backups are doing a great job of filling in for the injured players.
In the early part of the season, KT lost its regular outfield platoon and Choi Soo-ho to injury, but Kim Min-hyuk excelled in the leadoff spot and Ahn Chi-young, who made his first appearance in the first team after a long absence, filled the gap.
In addition, from June, when the injured players returned and started to rise, Moon Sang-cheol, who has been called a “second-team giant,” minimized Kang Baek-ho’s absence from the first team for a long period of time by delivering a single hit whenever needed, even though he was not a flashy hitter.
In the place of aging second baseman Park Kyung-soo, Lee Ho-yeon, who is not a flashy defender but has a natural talent for hitting, has been a great addition to the team since joining the team, not only having a career-high season but also revitalizing the team’s batting lineup.
Oh Yoon-seok (31), who has been mostly in the second team, has become an avatar of Park Byung-ho, who has been playing first base since the latter’s calf injury in August, when the team was on the rise.
Oh had a mediocre first half, batting .217 (15-for-69) with one home run and four RBIs, mostly as a substitute. However, he has come into his own in the second half, batting .397 (29-for-73) with three home runs and nine RBIs.
In his last 10 games alone, he’s one of the hottest hitters in the league, batting .419 (13-for-31) with three home runs and six RBIs. More importantly, he has seven long balls, with three doubles and one home run among his 13 hits, more than half of which are triples.
Oh Yoon-seok is a former Lotte rookie in 2014, and he is known for his power and long balls, including a cycling home run against Hanwha in October 2020 while still with Lotte. He was traded to KT in 2020 and can play all over the infield.
As KT’s surge to the top of the standings continues, Oh Yoon-seok has been a welcome addition to the wings, much to the delight of manager Lee Kang-cheol.스포츠토토
“My batting has been going well in the second half of the season. ”There’s nothing special about it, I’m just trying to focus as I usually do in practice,” he said, adding, “I want to help the team accumulate more wins and win the season rather than my own personal greed.