“It’s Changi and Seongju. They have the best contact coverage on the team.”
KBS N Sports commentator Park Yong-taek, who broadcast the Gwangju KIA-LG game on the 26th, said, “LG’s batting lineup is good no matter where you start.” LG’s batting lineup can get anyone on base and solve problems. Even in the game on the 26th, they were no match for KIA in terms of run production efficiency.
Nevertheless, LG’s best chance of scoring runs comes from table-setters Hong Chang-ki and Moon Sung-joo. The duo are 1-2 in batting average through 25 days (Moon 0.432, Hong 0.429). That’s at least four runs per 10 at-bats, so they’re run machines. Of course, they also have a high walk rate. Moon is second with 0.329 and Hong is sixth with 0.32.
They have something in common. They have something in common: good contact coverage. This literally means that they have a wide range of possible contacts. “It’s one of the theories of modern baseball,” said Yeom Kyung-yup before the Gwangju KIA game on the 26th. In the old days, you were told to look at the ball and hit it, but now you swing at the line where the ball comes from. It’s not about hitting the dot.”
You need to create a good swing mechanic and swing path to cover as much area as possible, a course, and that’s what Moon Sung-ju and Hong Chang-ki do best. “If the timing is behind you, go left, if it’s in front of you, go center. If it’s further ahead, go to the right, swinging to the line.”
Yoon believes that Park’s good coverage and home run pace this year has allowed him to get more contact coverage while preventing heads-up pitches. Moon Sung-ju and Hong Chang-ki are a step above Park Dong-won. They have less power than Park, so they hit fewer home runs, but their average and slugging percentage are overwhelming.
“The wider the contact zone, the higher the chance of an in-play hit,” says Yeom. That means you’re more likely to get a hard hit. Then the opponent can’t shift. When Hong Chang-ki and Moon Sung-ju come to bat, do they shift? They can send the ball all over the field, which makes it harder for them to make extreme shifts, which naturally increases their chances of hitting.”
Crucially, Yeom said that he and hitting coaches Lee Ho-joon and Mo Chang-min are able to push the batters hard because their theories are 99% correct. “You can only go to one code if you have the same theory. The direction of study must be the same, otherwise it won’t work. I have much more experience than Coach Lee and Coach Mo. The coaches are communicating well with the players and instilling them. It’s going in a good direction.”먹튀검증
Aside from Moon Sung-joo and Hong Chang-ki, LG’s individual batting pace is generally good. Except for Kim Hyun-soo, who is in a serious slump, Seo Geon-chang, who is now playing a lot less, and Lee Jae-won, who is out of action due to injury.
“The players have come to believe that the manager and the coaching staff are on the same page and that what they say is not wrong,” says Yoon. Then they experienced success, and they trusted us. I don’t think the graph will change much for the time being. If we do a good job of organizing our physical fitness for a year, we can go to a graph that doesn’t have too many ups and downs.”
In that regard, the Gwangju KIA game on the 26th was unusual. Hong Chang-ki went 0-for-5 and Moon Sung-joo went 0-for-4 and didn’t reach base once. This is baseball.
