Doosan’s Yang Seok-hwan (32) fired a cannon to give his team the win. His pace dropped off a bit in September, but he came back to life. This is where the whole team can gain momentum. And there’s something else that shines above and beyond the home runs. It’s his teammate spirit.
Yang went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and one stolen base in the final game of a four-game weekend series against Samsung in the 2023 KBO League regular season at Jamsil Stadium on Tuesday.
Behind Yang’s performance, Doosan cruised to an 8-2 victory. Starter Raul Alcantara pitched six innings of one-run ball (unearned) to earn his 12th win of the season, and in addition to Yang, Seung-ho Kang, Jose Rojas, and Jae-hwan Kim also had multi-hit games.
Yang blasted a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 6-0. Three runs would have been a little unsettling. Six runs is a different story. Doosan could afford to relax.
It was his 19th home run of the season. It was the 19th home run of the season. It was his 18th arch in 25 days after his 17th home run of the season against Hanwha in Daejeon on August 13. The 19th came much earlier.
Including this, his bat has been hot in September. In eight games, he’s batting .379 with two home runs, seven RBIs, a .419 on-base percentage, a .690 slugging percentage, and a 1.109 OPS.
In August, he’s batting .241 with three home runs, 18 RBIs, a .317 on-base percentage, a .414 slugging percentage, and a .731 OPS in 23 games. That’s a big difference. And it’s keeping Doosan in the hunt for a final five spot.
“There are cycles in the season,” Yang said after the game. There are good times and bad times. I think we’re on the way to a good cycle now. I don’t think there’s a trigger,” he explained.
On home runs, he said, “You’re going to hit 20 home runs eventually. I’m the kind of player who needs to hit 20 home runs to have any merit. There’s nothing special about it. I think you should always hit at least 20,” he said.
“I think home runs are very important for a team to win a lot of games. I need to hit a lot of them, but it’s not happening. It took me more than three weeks to get from 17 to 18. When I do get a home run, it tends to come often. When it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen for a while, and I’m thinking it will happen when it happens.”
Outside of her performance, she was impressive in other ways. It happened on defense in the top of the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead. With two outs and no runners on base, the game was stopped for a moment. Yang continued to step on the first base line with his mitt down.
The base, which should have been firmly planted, wobbled. The umpires came over to check on the situation, and Yang pulled the base and held it up high. The steel structure supporting the inside of the base was bent.
The base was immediately replaced. Yang and the umpires stepped on it to check its condition. After confirming that everything was fine, the game resumed.
“In my previous at-bat (at the end of the third inning), I felt strange when I stepped on first base. This is a sensitive time for injuries. You can get hurt on the bases. It would be unfair if I got hurt because of a structural problem.”
“The batter runs to first base after the hit, and I cover first base. The pitcher might come in to cover. I thought it was important to prevent injuries, so I asked for a substitution.”
It wasn’t just about our team. We were also thinking about the other team. Runners on base can also be injured if they step on a base or slide into a base and leave it. The same thing can happen in defense.메이저놀이터
You need to eliminate anxiety. At the end of the day, the other team is also a baseball player. You meet them as an enemy, but in the big picture, they are your teammates. It’s a team spirit. This is the “heart” of Yang Seok-hwan, who shines beyond wins and losses.