He was just a backup in the first and second lineup at LG, but he is indispensable at Lotte. ‘Trade success’ Son Ho-young’s presence explodes.
It’s been a month since the Lotte Giants’ Son Ho-young changed teams via trade. On March 30, Lotte traded infielder Son Ho-young for pitcher Woo Kang-hoon in a one-for-one deal with the LG Twins.
The infield situation was urgent. Lotte had two starting shortstops, Noh Jin-hyuk, who was signed as an outside free agent ahead of the 2023 season, and Lee Hak-joo, who was acquired from Samsung, and Ahn Chi-hong, who had been the second baseman until last year, but the situation was different this year. Noh struggled last season with a 2.055 OPS and underwhelming performance, while Ahn Chi-hong became a free agent for the second time and moved to Hanwha. Lee Hak-joo’s roster also has a lot of variables. Veteran Kim Min-sung was acquired via sign-and-trade, 안전놀이터 추천 but Han Dong-hee is set to join the Sangmu in June, and it’s unclear how much of a starting role up-and-comer Na Seung-yup can play.
The Son-Ho-young trade was an aggressive move by manager Kim Tae-hyung out of necessity.
Son, who joined LG in 2020 after playing in the American minor leagues and Korean independent leagues, was never a starter for LG. While he was consistently considered a potential infielder, LG’s starting shortstop, Oh Ji-hwan, was so entrenched and the only open spot at second base was filled by Shin Min-jae, who won the championship last year, that it was hard for him to even get a chance to play first base.
At the time of the trade, there was a lot of talk about the young pitching prospect Woo Kang-hoon, but given that he would need more time to develop in the first team and Lotte was in desperate need of results, Son Ho-young was a must-have.
One month into the trade. Son has become an indispensable part of the Lotte infield. Usually, when given the opportunity, not many players make it their own. However, Son is currently playing second, third, and shortstop defense for Lotte, making her an all-around infield player and leadoff hitter.
Lotte was swept in a three-game series against the NC Dinos at NC Park in Changwon this past weekend, another three-game sweep. Sitting at the bottom of the standings, the entire team’s batting lineup went cold, unable to threaten the opposition and dropping three games. But Son Ho-young shined among them.
He had hits in all three games and even hit a solo home run in the 28th game.
With Lotte trailing 1-2 in the top of the second inning, Son hit a home run off NC starter Shin Min-hyuk to tie the game at 2-2. Although the team ultimately lost the game by a final score of 3-5, Son has exceeded expectations with a monthly batting average of .317 (26-for-82) with two home runs and 15 RBIs through 28 games.
His defense is stable no matter where he plays in the infield, so having him in the middle of the lineup is a huge relief for the team right now. Manager Kim Tae-hyung smiled, saying, “Son Ho-young does everything by himself.” “He does everything by himself,” said club officials.
Now, the challenge for Son is to maintain the performance he showed in the first month after the trade. In the first year of Kim Tae-hyung’s tenure as manager, 토토사이트 모음 Lotte started the year with no major reinforcements and a lot of leaks, and so far, it’s showing on the field. The batting lineup is particularly weak, ranking near the bottom of the league in various offensive metrics.