There's a reason why Lee Hak-joo and Oh Sun-jin were released! Will Lotte's 'Infinite Competition of Five People' system finally succeed in fostering native shortstop

There's a reason why Lee Hak-joo and Oh Sun-jin were released! Will Lotte's 'Infinite Competition of Five People' system finally succeed in fostering native shortstop

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The Lotte Giants, which have been agonizing over the position of shortstop in recent years, have built a new competitive structure and set a new stage. At least three or as many as five players are expected to compete for a position as shortstop.안전놀이터

Lotte announced the release list in November last year that included Lee Hak-joo and Oh Sun-jin (Kium Heroes), who were backup shortstop. Dixon Macha, who was a foreign shortstop in the 2021 season, was also somewhat unusual for Lotte, which had been struggling with the shortstop position for several years, to release two shortstop resources with a lot of experience in the first division at once. Ahead of the 2023 season, Lotte recruited FA Noh Jin-hyuk with a huge amount of 5 billion won for four years, but still failed to solve the shortstop's concerns.
Lotte's decision was largely attributable to Park Seung-wook's performance as the starting shortstop last year. Park Seung-wook, who was released from KT Wiz in the 2021 season, wore Lotte's uniform starting from the 2022 season through a try-out test. He was selected as the starting shortstop over rivals such as Lee Hak-joo and Bae Sung-geun, and achieved a career high with a batting average of 0.286 with 30 RBIs and an OPS of 0.733 in 123 games in the 2023 season. Taking advantage of the sluggishness of the FA Noh Jin-hyuk in the 2024 season, he played as Lotte's starting shortstop in 139 games with a batting average of 0.262, seven homers, 53 RBIs and an OPS of 0.716.
After the release of Lee Hak-joo and Oh Sun-jin, Lotte announced a 3-2 trade with the Doosan Bears. After giving up pitcher Choi Woo-in, outfielder Kim Min-seok, and Choo Jae-hyun, he has received pitcher Jung Chul-won and infielder Jeon Min-jae. Jeon Min-jae is a military veteran who played in the most games (64 games) as a shortstop in Doosan last season, and played the second most innings (395 innings). Although he did not impress with a batting average of 0.246 with two homers and 32 RBIs in 100 games, he was recognized for his potential in the field of defense.

Han Tae-yang, who was discharged from the military service at the end of last year, is also a likely candidate for the starting shortstop. After briefly appearing in the first division for the 2022 season, Han Tae-yang joined the military in May 2023, and posted a batting average of 0.278 in 26 games for the 2023 season, two homers, 13 RBIs and an OPS of 0.844 in 13 games for the 2023 season, and a batting average of 0.283 in 76 games for the 2024 season, with three homers, 30 RBIs and nine steals and an OPS of 0.781. The team also included Han Dong-hee, who was excluded from the roster of the Korean national team for the MLB World Tour Seoul Series Special Game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres last year due to an injury.
In addition, Lee Ho-joon, who made a strong impression by hitting two hits (double, triple) and three RBIs in six at-bats in 12 games in the second half of last year as a rookie, and Kim Se-min, the third-rounder of the 2022 rookie draft who returns from active duty, are expected to participate in the competition for Lotte's main shortstop. It remains to be seen whether Lotte's nurturing of native shortstop, which has been Lotte's "long-cherished business," will finally succeed under the direction of head coach Kim Tae-hyung.