Hanwha’s foreign batting nightmare has been going on all season. Even Nick Williams (30), who came in as a replacement for Brian O’Grady, who was released after an extremely poor season, has fallen into a deep slump with a 1-percent batting average.
Williams struck out in three consecutive at-bats against Doosan on April 1. He struck out swinging on a high fastball in the first inning against Doosan starter Kwak Bin, then struck out on three pitches in the fourth. He followed up with a low changeup outside, but it sailed wide of the plate.
In the seventh inning, he struck out swinging on a five-pitch low curveball from Kwak-Bin. He was eventually replaced by Kwon Kwang-min with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and left the game. Even though the score was 1-8, it was humiliating for a foreign hitter to be removed with the bases loaded.
O’Grady struck out in seven straight at-bats, Williams struck out in six straight at-bats
Williams has struck out in his last six consecutive at-bats, dating back to his second at-bat in the fourth inning against the Literary SSG on March 30. His predecessor, O’Grady, struck out in seven straight at-bats from the third at-bat of the sixth inning against Suwon KT on April 16 to the first at-bat of the second inning against Doosan in Daejeon on April 19, and Williams is following suit.
Williams made his debut on June 27 against KT in Daejeon and seemed to adjust quickly, hitting his first home run in his third game on June 30 against Samsung Electronics in Daegu. However, his weakness against fastballs has been exposed. The changeup, which he had been hitting so well in the early stages, was not timed well and he became a strikeout machine.
Through 19 games on the season, he’s 1-for-14 (77 at-bats) with two home runs, eight RBIs, a .203 on-base percentage, a .312 slugging percentage and a .515 OPS. He’s struck out 28 times while drawing one walk. While not quite as good as O’Grady (46.5%), he has a 35.4% strikeout rate. He also has a 15.0% swinging strike rate, the ninth-highest among 148 hitters with at least 70 plate appearances. Among foreign hitters, it’s second only to O’Grady’s (19.9%).
“I can’t continue to use him as a starter when he’s not doing well,” says head coach Won Ho Choi
Williams’ batting order, which started at No. 4, dropped to No. 2, then No. 7, then No. 8. Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho was scratching his head over how to utilize Williams. “When asked how long to keep a foreign hitter, coaches from the Yasoo have different opinions. “There is an opinion that a player who comes in the middle of the season should be watched for a longer period of time due to the unfamiliarity with the environment such as the strike zone and the pitchers, but it is difficult to set a standard (for waiting for adaptation),” he said.온라인카지노
It usually takes 100 at-bats to get an “estimate. With 79 at-bats under his belt, the wait is not long for Williams. “I was talking to the batting order and I said, ‘If it’s not good enough, maybe we should selectively start him,'” Choi said. I don’t know how far we should go in terms of keeping him in the lineup. I think it depends on how he’s hitting and the type of pitcher he’s facing.”
The implication is that he is no longer guaranteed a spot in the lineup. He’s even thinking about using a foreign hitter as a platoon player. He sent a clear message by replacing Williams with a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning. Doosan’s starting pitcher for the second day was side-armer Choi Won-jun, so Williams could be out of the starting lineup for the first time since joining the team. Williams has struggled against Sidearm, going 0-for-10 with a walk and six strikeouts.