The Hanwha Baseball Organization’s eagerly awaited new foreign hitter, Nick Williams, 30, will take the field in Daejeon this week for a three-game series against KT. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Williams will join the first team on the 27th for the midweek series.온라인바카라
For any team, the arrival of a new foreign hitter is bound to raise expectations. Hanwha hopes that Williams, who will debut in the No. 4 spot in the lineup and in left field, will be able to revitalize the entire team’s batting order.
The truth is, it’s very difficult to predict the success of a foreign hitter. Teams that have made the switch have had dramatically different experiences. This was the case for Hanwha.
We can only guess how Williams will perform and how quickly he will adapt to the new league. However, there are some within the organization who believe that Williams is reminiscent of Jay Davis, who played seven seasons as the best outfielder in Hanwha’s history. It may be a pipe dream, but it’s hard not to hope for the next Davis.
Williams’ career path has been unclear during the COVID-19 pandemic and he spent this year in the Mexican League, but he did play 140 games in the big leagues for the Phillies in 2018, posting an OPS of 0.749 and a 0.955 OPS in Triple-A the following year. If he regains that pace, it’s not unreasonable to expect him to evoke images of Jay Davis.
Hanwha is hoping for an overall upgrade in their batting order from 1-6 with the addition of Williams. Hanwha is 10th in team batting average (.237) and last in team OPS (.658) this season. Competitiveness in the batting order has been equally weak.
Hanwha has only been competitive at the top of the order this season. They are second in the league with a 0.312 batting average and 0.922 OPS. Noh Si-hwan (233 at-bats) and Chae Eun-sung (76 at-bats) have alternated at the top of the order.
This season, the No. 1 hitter has an OPS of 0.663 (6th), the No. 2 hitter has an OPS of 0.532 (10th), and the No. 4 hitter has an OPS of 0.747 (8th). The batting order was no different, with the No. 5 hitter posting a 0.636 OPS (7th) and the No. 6 hitter a 0.648 OPS (8th).
With the addition of Williams, Hanwha will likely use a zigzagging batting order that alternates between right-handed and left-handed hitters. It starts with top hitter Lee Jin-young (R), followed by Kim In-hwan (L), Noh Si-hwan (R), Williams (L), Chae Eun-sung (R), and Moon Hyun-bin (L). If Choi Jae-hoon (R) and Jung Eun-won (L) move to the bottom of the order, the entire batting order could be even more solid.
One bright spot is Kim In-hwan, who is batting .321 (28-for-9) with an OPS of .845 in 29 at-bats at second base in June. A strong batting order at the top of the order can be a good thing, as it can help the batting order after the first and third spots.
A new week. It’s a new week for Hanwha. Everyone in and out of the organization is approaching the new midweek series with the same excitement as the season opener.