Was there such a backup in the history of participating in international competitions in Korean baseball?

The WBC national team led by coach Kang-Cheol Lee will be joined by an infielder who is the ‘best backup’. The main character is Oh Ji-hwan from LG. He is the best offensive and defensive shortstop in the KBO League. He played a big role in 142 games in the 2022 season with a batting average of 0.269, 25 home runs, 87 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases with an OPS of 0.827.

He did the first 20-20 of his life. It is unusual for a shortstop who uses Jamsil as his home base to go 20-20. A player with a heavy defensive burden has proven that both power and speed are top-notch in the league. The defensive power that has grown in the past few years needs no further explanation.

Based on the baseball statistics website Stats, he was ranked third among infielders and first among shortstops with a WAA of 1.106. He was first among shortstops in batted ball percentage with 91.67% and first among infielders overall in double kill percentage with 74%. He won the first Golden Glove in his life, and he is discussing the next free agent contract in advance of one year before re-qualifying as a free agent.

It is known that Oh Ji-hwan is currently discussing a contract with LG with a guarantee period of around 12 billion won for 6 years. LG missed Yoo Kang-nam and Chae Eun-seong in the 2022-2023 FA market, but plans to tie Oh Ji-hwan a year early in terms of future value and power management. It seems that an exquisite form of contract will come out, being conscious of the salary cap.

It is ironic that such a player would play as a backup on the baseball team. But this is also a reality, and given the circumstances, it makes sense. This is because major leaguer Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) is participating in the WBC. His defensive power has risen to the point where he was nominated for the National League Shortstop Gold Glove Award this year. 스포츠토토

Coach Lee Kang-cheol plans to use the keystone combination of Kim Ha-seong and Tommy Edman (St. Louis Cardinals) as the starting center infield combination. As a result, Oh Ji-hwan played as an all-time backup. He was the main shortstop in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but this WBC is a different experience.

Of course, coach Lee explained that if Ha-seong Kim moved to third base, Oh Ji-hwan would play shortstop. Choi Jeong is holding on to third base, but there is no substitute. Depending on the flow of the game, if Choi Jeong is replaced by the runner-up, Kim Ha-seong will go to third base and Oh Ji-hwan will form a keystone combination with Edmon.

It may not be possible to fully utilize Oh Ji-hwan’s talent, but it also means that the center infield of the WBC team is solid. Kim Hye-seong, who will play as second baseman’s backup, can also play shortstop, and has considerable value as a large runner. Along with catcher Yang Eui-ji and center fielder Lee Jung-hoo, an all-time great combination was born in the center line of the national team.