One of the new attractions ahead of the opening of the 2022 season was the confrontation between’Jamsil center fielder’ Park Hae-min (LG) and Su-bin Jeong (Doosan). After the end of the 2021 season, the LG Twins recruited center fielder Park Hae-min from the national team for a total of 6 billion won over four years, forming a confrontation with Doosan Bears’ main center fielder Sue-bin Su. After the end of the 2020 season, Soo-bin Jeong first obtained FA qualification and signed a contract with Doosan for a total of 5.6 billion won over 6 years.
Park Hae-min and Jung Soo-bin have been regarded as the best center fielders in the league with their quick feet and wide range of defense. Born in 1990, he is a left-handed hitter of the same age and has a common point of being a table setter in the team with an emphasis on precise hitting instead of a big build. The amount of free agent contracts each signed within a year was similar. I saw Park Hae-min and Jeong Su-bin fight for the ball in the vast outfield at Jamsil Stadium.
The analysis that LG’s recruitment of Park Hae-min was a move with Su-bin in mind gained strength. In the 2021 semi-playoff, LG faced Doosan, but was eliminated with 1 win and 2 losses. Soo-bin Su led Doosan’s advance into the playoffs with his karate and defense. In particular, it was evaluated that the flow of the game was brought to Doosan by out-handling LG hitters’ hit balls with a wonderful diving catch. It is a story that LG, stimulated by Su-bin’s great performance, brought Park Hae-min.
In fact, LG’s recruitment of Park 바카라사이트Hae-min was criticized not only for the size of the contract, but also for the lack of convincing power. While Hong Chang-ki, who won the on-base percentage title in 2021, was in charge of center fielder, LG, such as Kim Hyun-soo, Lee Hyeong-jong, Moon Seong-ju, and Lee Jae-won, had abundant outfield resources. Chae Eun-seong, who was in charge of the starting right fielder, was converted to first baseman, but the outfielder was overflowing, and the recruitment of Park Hae-min was a ‘duplicate investment’.
Park Hae-min, wearing LG’s striped uniform, recorded a batting average of 0.289, 3 homers, 49 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.715. He was the only player on the team to appear in all 144 regular season games and boasted exemplary body management. He had a 2.87 WAR (based on the Kaby Report), which represents win contribution versus replacement players.
If Hong Chang-ki suffered from injuries and sluggishness and did not recruit Park Hae-min, the LG outfield could have unexpectedly become quite loose. Park Hae-min showed off his unique wide range of defense and received the trust of LG pitchers. LG pitchers were able to trust Park Hae-min and pitch aggressively.
On the other hand, Su-bin Su was sluggish with a batting average of 0.259, 3 homers, 41 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.654. In the fall, at the end of the regular season, he showed a powerful blow like a monopoly, but it was too late to recover his personal record and team performance. WAR was only 0.68, just avoiding negative numbers. Following WAR 0.72 in 2021, WAR did not exceed 1.0 for the second year in a row, and voices saying that the free agent retention contract was “overpay” gained strength.
Thanks to Park Hae-min’s performance, LG finished the regular season in second place with 87 wins, the most in a season in club history. However, amid the sluggishness of Soo-bin Su, Doosan received the lowest-ranked report card in the history of the club, ranking 9th. The performance of both teams, which share Jamsil Stadium, was clearly mixed with the performance of Park Hae-min and Su-bin Su.
This season, LG is expected to fight for pride and Doosan to restore the dynasty. Let’s pay attention to whether Park Hae-min and Su-bin Jung will fulfill their role as air defense spearheads to achieve their team’s goals.