Who would have known that Jason Martin (28, NC) would do so well in just three weeks.
Martin was replaced early after striking out three or four times in a row against KT in Suwon on the 1st. When he failed to match the timing of both the fastball and the breaking ball and hit helplessly, he was taken off the bench at an early point. The next day, he was also silent with no hits in 3 at-bats.
Martin, who was like that, caught on in an instant. Since the match against Gocheok Kiwoom on the 4th, he has been wielding a fire bat with a batting average of 3.8% (14 hits in 36 at-bats), 4 homers, 13 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.228 in the last 9 games. His season performance also improved to a batting average of .287 (60 hits in 209 bats), 9 homers, 38 RBIs, and an OPS of .847.
Like last year’s Trip A Pacific Coast League home run king (32), his long hitting power began to revive. He hit his first consecutive home run against Changwon Lotte on the 13th, the last game of the first half, and also hit multiple homers against Daejeon Hanwha on the 22nd.
In particular, on this day, in the 9th inning, with 2 outs, 1st and 3rd base behind 4-5, Hanwha finishing pitcher Park Sang-won passed the forkball in the middle of the 3rd pitch and passed it over the fence in the middle right. come-from-behind final three-run. Thanks to Martin’s performance, NC also won 4 consecutive wins, solidifying its 4th place.
After the game, Martin said, “(When holding the bat), he changed his form by raising his hand position, but he seems to have adapted to the pitching style of Korean pitchers. His efforts to stay as calm as possible in his at-bat and not miss a mismatch have led to good results.”
NC coach Kang In-kwon had the same idea. In an interview after the match against Hanwha on the 23rd was canceled due to rain, manager Kang In-kwon said, “Martin seems to have finished adapting. Talking with the hitting coach and watching the video, adjusting the hand position when batting seems to have had an effect.” As he puts up with the balls he shouldn’t hit little by little, the balls he can attack come in.”
On the 22nd, during the three-run home run in the final round, he endured Park Sang-won’s 1st and 2nd ball outside manned balls, and then struck back the ball that came in the middle with an error pitch. Coach Kang also praised, saying, “Some of the balls went high, but Martin hit well with the number of goals.”
With Martin holding the center, NC is also exploding with 29 points, including 8 homers, in the process of winning 4 games in a row. Coach Kang said, “Our first through third hitters (Son A-seop, Park Min-woo, and Park Gun-woo) are players at the top of the batting average in the KBO League. The 4th and 5th batting order was not organized, but now it has settled down to some extent. As the long hitting power that was lacking came out, the scoring power improved.”메이저놀이터
In addition, Park Gun-woo, who came back after overcoming the work-esque controversy, is putting his strength into the complete batting line by playing an active role with two hits and multi-hits in two consecutive games with his return in the second half. In the game on the 21st, the first day of his return, Park Gun-woo played an active role with 2 hits and 1 RBI in 4 at-bats, including the 8th home run of the season, and in the game on the 22nd, 2 RBIs, 2 RBIs in the 6th inning, followed by a timely hit with 2 outs and 1st base in the 9th inning.
Coach Kang said of Park Kun-woo, “(During the expulsion of the first team entry), I went to the Futures game and played 3-4 at-bats continuously, so I did not fall sensibly. Rather than having to do some planting after that happened, he has the things he has. He seems to have done a good job reorganizing while taking a break.”