From ‘Hateful’ to ‘Demon Emperor’… Lotte Hwang Seong-bin, Who Overturned the Evaluation with his Skills
‘Ibbang-ah’ with a play that stimulates the opponent… Lotte rebounded with 3 wins and 1 draw, causing bench clearing, with a batting average of 0.529 and 3 home runs in the last 4 games.
Not many people would have predicted that the player who saved the professional baseball Lotte Giants, which was in an endless decline, would be outfielder Hwang Seong-bin (26), who played as a professional pinch runner.
On the 26th of last month, in the game against the KIA Tigers, while on first base, he looked at the opposing starting pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong on the mound and asked, 'Should I play or not?', which became a hot topic.
Players from other teams, such as Jae-gyun Hwang (KT Wiz) and Ja-wook Koo (Samsung Lions), followed suit. 파워볼사이트
In addition, in the game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 18th, which ended an 8-game losing streak, he engaged in a nervous battle with LG starter Casey Kelly and triggered the 'first season' bench clearing.
Many Lotte fans cheered Hwang Seong-bin's fighting spirit, but there were also concerns that he was stimulating the opposing team more than necessary.
Right away, Lotte coach Kim Tae-hyung even expressed the opinion, “I think we should refrain from excessive behavior”
Fans of the other nine teams even said that Hwang Seong-bin was 'disgusting'.
In this way, Hwang Seong-bin, the league's most famous 'pinch runner', has recently continued to show surprising performances with the bat.
In the game against LG in Jamsil on the 18th, he appeared as a starter for the first time in a long time and scored 2 hits and 2 points in 5 at-bats, breaking the team's 8-game losing streak.
In the 3-game series against KT on the 19th to 21st, he literally played the game of his life.
On the 19th, the first game of the three-game series, he scored 1 run with 2 hits in 3 at-bats, a triple, and a walk, and in the game on the 21st, which was played as a doubleheader, he hit 2 home runs in the first game and 1 home run in the second game, giving him 3 home runs in one day. I hit it.
The player who made his professional debut in 2022 and hit 1 home run in his career hit 3 home runs in one day.
In the first game of the doubleheader, he hit two home runs from KT ace William Cuevas to help lead to a 9-9 tie, and in the second game, he stole a nutritious two-run home run from KT starter Eom Sang-baek to make it 5-2.
And Lotte won 7-5 in the second game of the doubleheader, completing a three-game winning streak.
Lotte, which fell to the bottom of the league with eight consecutive losses, succeeded in rebounding after Hwang Seong-bin's batting revived.
There is still a long way to go with 7 wins, 16 losses, and 1 draw (winning rate of 0.304), but they succeeded in escaping last place with 3 consecutive wins and became 9th.
In the last four games, Hwang Seong-bin's batting average was 0.529 (9 hits in 17 at-bats), and he hit four extra-base hits, including one triple and three home runs.
In addition to this, as befits his original mission of being the ‘best runner in the league,’ he also stole two bases, reaching the milestone of 10 stolen bases for the season.
Seongbin Hwang, who had 10 stolen bases and 12 misses in 2022, his first year of debut, and 9 stolen bases and 5 misses last year, succeeded in all of his 10 attempts this year.
Thanks to this, Hwang Seong-bin got a new nickname instead of ‘Mateful.’
Not only Lotte fans, but also other club fans appreciate Hwang Seongbin's unwavering fighting spirit and call him 'Mawang' (Hwang Seongbin of Demon Castle).
This is a nickname that comes to mind of the late singer Shin Hae-cheol, who was called the ‘Devil King.’
In an interview with reporters after the game ended on the 18th, Hwang Seong-bin said, "No one will look at me and think, 'I'm not working hard.'
The opposing team may be uncomfortable with that image, but if you think about that, they don't care because they haven't prepared well.
“I’m trying not to use it,” he said.
Hwang Seong-bin, who was considered a candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award after playing with a batting average of 0.294 in 2022, suffered a severe ‘second-year jinx’ by hitting only 0.212 last season.
Although he received unfavorable attention due to his struggle for survival, he played courageously and was reborn as a true 'giant' who saved Lotte from crisis.