Jihyeok Ryu. Born in Seoul in January 1994, he is 29 years old this year.
When he was in the third grade of elementary school, he started playing baseball by playing little baseball.
His parents thought, “He’ll only play for a month,” but he was affectionate enough to ask them to transfer him to a school with a baseball team.
Physically 181cm 75kg. However, he was too short when he was young.
This is because he revealed that he was less than 160cm tall even after graduating from middle school.
Fortunately, he grew taller in high school, and started to make his name known by playing in the youth national team.
He was praised for being ‘the birth of a large shortstop equipped with both offense and defense’.
After graduating from Chungam High School, he joined the Doosan Bears in 2012 with 36th overall in the 4th round.
Ryu Ji-hyeok was a Durin who wanted to join Doosan even before the draft, and he has achieved that dream.
He is a right-handed left-handed player who enters the plate at bat, but uses his right hand when defending. In particular, he is a reliable player and a utility resource as a player who pays for a meal at any position in the infield.
Due to Doosan’s strong infield, Ryu Ji-hyeok played mainly as a backup until he was traded to the KIA Tigers.
However, he believed that his time would come someday and said, “I want to play for Doosan as a starting player.”
He looked set to remain a permanent Doosan man, but his pro world was cold.
According to the needs of both clubs, in June 2020, Ryu Ji-hyeok traded with Hong Geon-hee to wear the KIA Tigers uniform.
The move to KIA was also a great opportunity to jump to the starting lineup, but his affection for the original team was also extraordinary, so his expectations and regrets must have coexisted.
An interesting fact is that Ryu Ji-hyeok noticed that people’s instincts cannot be ignored to some extent on the day of the trade.
He said something was wrong before the game, but the sad feeling is not wrong..
The trade was announced after the game that day.
Coincidentally, the last game Ryu Ji-hyeok played for Doosan was against KIA, and at that time, Lim Ki-young hit the sand dune, and a few hours later they became the same team.
Ryu Ji-hyeok made a new nest at KIA.
However, after he was traded, he ended the season in just 5 games, even if he fluttered.
He was sidelined for the season due to a hamstring injury.
Among the fans, the view of questioning whether or not he has a glass body was prevalent.
However, last season, he played 477 at-bats in 127 games and entered the regular at-bat 10 years after his debut and spent a season as a true starter.
Finishing the season with a batting average of 0.274, 2 home runs, and an OPS of 0.715, it is especially encouraging that he broke the image of a glass body.
However, third baseman is traditionally a big hitter in the team, but Ryu Ji-hyeok had only two home runs last season.
Even if the long hitting power is lacking, it remains a regrettable part that there is a part that is lacking for a long time.
Although he is in a position where he has to compete with Kim Do-young and Byun Woo-hyuk, who have relatively high long-running power in the same position, but he is more stable than these two in terms of defense, so I would like to play mainly.
Within the team, I am in charge of taking care of players in their early and mid-20s.
It was requested by captain Kim Seon-bin, and since there is a big age difference between himself and the young players, it is delivered through Ryu Ji-hyeok, who is the middle leg.
Even though he has been with Doosan for a long time, he has a very strong personality, so he seems to have a good chemistry with the KIA players even after the transfer.
In particular, in the KIA Tigers system, which selects captains by team voting, it can be said that he is receiving the trust of the players thickly, as he was voted second after Kim Seon-bin, who took first place.
It is known that he wears a large top size because he is uncomfortable with tight-fitting uniforms.
He said in a phone interview on YouTube ‘I live in baseball’ that he prefers to wear oversized clothes.
For reference, the top size is 125.
Not only that, it is said that he cuts off the neck and arm parts of the innerwear he wears inside the uniform with scissors. They say it’s because they feel uncomfortable with the seams, but they prefer seamless style innerwear.
According to the KIA Tigers YouTube channel ‘Gya TV’, you can see that it is not a skill that has been done once or twice.
For your information, teammate Hwang Dae-in is showing a look that doesn’t wear innerwear.
This guy, I looked up all the articles interviewing him, but he was very cool and he had to admit it. 스포츠토토
In particular, he blamed everything on himself, not on his surroundings, on any criticisms directed at him, such as stories about his long backup days or when he lost in the final match against Japan.
It’s manly and impressive to see him admit that his skills were lacking.
He is also notable for the gold necklace he wears during matches.
When asked how much money it was, he said it was a gift he received when he got married, and he said in a phone interview on YouTube ‘I Live in Baseball’ that he wore it because he looked cool when he saw major league players wearing it.
Hwang Dae-in was also chosen as the most handsome person in the KIA Tigers.
He said that if he were a woman, he would have met Hwang Dae-in, but he says that he has a lot of charm when he sees him up close
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So far, it has been interesting stories about Ryu Ji-hyeok.
It seems one of the big fun to see if he can play an active role as a built-in KIA hot corner this season following last season, when he leaped from a super backup to a main player.
We look forward to Ryu Ji-hyeok’s performance in the upcoming baseball season.
