The Lotte Giants are determined not to let go of their hopes for fall baseball. It took 4 games to 5th place, but Lotte wants to do its best until the last moment. Infielder Ahn Chi-hong, who shows an explosive sense of hitting with a batting average of 0.396 in the second half, is also working hard to make a dramatic turnaround at the end of the second half.메이저놀이터

Lotte, who achieved a winning series in the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes expedition this week, won 7-1 against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on August 11th. Lotte, who won two consecutive victories on this day, maintained 7th place in the league with 46 wins and 50 losses in the season. The gap with the 5th place Doosan Bears, which is the right to advance to the fall night game, is 4 games.

On this day, Lotte succeeded in suppressing the baseline with Ahn Chi-hong’s preemptive solo shot at the end of the first inning. An Chi-Hong hit a 144km/h fastball and hit a left-handed solo home run with a distance of 120m after a 10-ball game with opponent starting pitcher Thomas Panoni in the first at-bat of the day after one out at the end of the first inning. Lotte, riding on momentum, took a step further with Jung Hoon’s solo home run at the end of the second inning.

Lotte infielder Ahn Chi-hong is showing off a hot hitting feeling in the second half. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu
Ahn Chi-hong, who finished the multi-hit game early with a double at the end of the 3rd inning, came out as a solver again. Lotte scored an extra point at the end of the 5th inning with An Chi-hong’s hit in the middle left and an error by the opponent’s center fielder in the situation of 1 out 1 base.

At the end of the 6th inning, Lotte put a wedge in victory with Kim Min-seok and Son Seong-bin’s timely hits. An Chi-hong also intentionally got 4 pitches at the end of the 6th inning with 2nd, 2nd and 3rd base opportunities. On this day, An Chi-hong contributed to the team’s 7-1 victory with 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 1 run and 1 walk.

An Chi-hong raised his batting average to 0.299 for the season and was close to hitting 30%. An Chi-hong, who played in 89 games this season, recorded 94 hits, 5 home runs, 47 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of 0.379. His season scoring average (29 hits in 81 at-bats) is close to 0.358.

In the second half, it is An Chi-hong who gets hotter. An Chi-hong is recording a batting average of 0.396 (21 hits in 53 at-bats) in the second half. His batting average in August was 0.519 (14 hits in 27 at-bats), and he seemed to get a hit whenever he hit the bat.

Lotte and Ahn Chi-hong, who decided to extend their companionship two years ago, stand at the crossroads of choice again

In this way, if An Chi-hong maintains a hot hitting feeling in the second half and leads the team to fall baseball, it is a perfect result. If that happens, the free agent ransom of An Chi-hong is expected to rise considerably. After the end of this season, Ahn Chi-hong and Doosan Bears Yang Seok-hwan are regarded as the ‘TOP 2’ in the free agent market.

Yang Seok-hwan is tied for third in the home run league with 16 home runs this season. Clubs that want to boost their team’s slugging power by recruiting first baseman Geopo are showing interest. An Chi-Hong is more attractive because he has expanded his range not only as a second baseman but also as a first baseman, along with his calculating batting ability. Not only the original team Lotte, but also clubs aiming to reinforce the second baseman and first baseman positions at the same time are closely observing An Chi-hong.

Ahead of the 2020 season, An Chi-hong left KIA and joined Lotte under the unique FA contract condition of up to 5.6 billion won in 2+2 years. After the end of the 2021 season, it was a structure in which contract extension and termination could be chosen. An Chi-hong and Lotte signed an extension contract during the 2021 season and decided to accompany them until the 2023 season. Now again, An Chi-hong and Lotte are at a crossroads of choice.

Attention is focusing on what choice An Chi-hong, who shows an irreplaceable presence in Lotte, will make after the end of this season.