"Because you're so bad at yourself."
Hanwha Eagles coach Kim Kyung-moon made a decision ahead of the match against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju on Sunday. He lowered Noh Si-hwan, the undisputed No. 4 hitter, to the sixth batting order. He has suffered from poor batting performance, as his batting average in the last 10 games has dropped to 0.083 (three hits in 36 times at bat).
Noh Si-hwan has been a cleanup hitter in 60 of the 62 games he started this season. There was the first change to fifth hitter against Daegu Samsung on April 6, and he played third hitter against Doosan Bears in Jamsil on April 8. In the game against Doosan, Noh Si-hwan returned to the fourth batter and has maintained his position so far by swinging three hits (one homer) and four RBIs from four times at bat. This is the first time that Noh has been out of the clean-up trio.
Coach Kim briefly explained the background of the change, saying, "I just sent it back a little."
Up until the match against Kia on Sunday, Kim emphasized his unwavering faith in Noh. However, Noh remained silent again, with no hits in three times at bat, and the Hanwha Eagles lost 2-3. Noh's batting average in June fell to 0.059 (one hit in 17 times at bat).
Hanwha has lined up starting pitchers such as Floral (center fielder), Ha Joo-seok (striker), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Chae Eun-seong (first baseman), Lee Jin-young (right fielder), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Choi In-ho (designated hitter), Choi Jae-hoon (catcher), and Hwang Young-mook (second baseman). The starting pitcher is left-hander Hwang Jun-seo.
Chae Eun-sung and Lee Jin-young, who hit solo home runs side by side in the game on the 6th, were forward in the fourth and fifth batting order, respectively. 메이저놀이터
The starting pitcher for Kia is Adam Oler. Oler has six wins and two losses, 71 innings and an ERA of 3.04 in 12 games this season. He has no win against Hanwha this year. He had 11 innings and an ERA of 3.27 in two matches without a win or loss.
Coach Kim praised Noh Si-hwan for faithfully performing his duties as the main third baseman even if he had ups and downs in the batting. When Chae Eun-sung and other batters were gaining strength, he expected Noh to recover his batting sense as soon as possible and take the center stage as Hanwha's No. 4 hitter.
Coach Kim said, "We're holding out right now while Si-hwan is the worst hitter. And our Si-hwan is doing so well in defense right now. If Si-hwan has confidence in the offensive side, we'll probably have more scoring ability or strength. We have to wait until then. Other players should cheer up and do more," he encouraged.