Kiwoom Director Hong Won-ki, ‘Chinese Restaurant Dinner Effect' in Full Swing with the Performance of the Three Foreign Musketeers
Heisus, Hurado, and Dawson, pitching and batting, "Sending a message to foreign players that they are not mercenaries"
This season, many professional baseball teams are struggling with the poor performance and injuries of foreign players.
SSG Landers, Doosan Bears, and Hanwha Eagles have replaced foreign players or used short-term replacement foreign players, and LG Twins, which is in second place in the regular season, also plans to replace one of its foreign pitchers.
Foreign players are the core of the team's power, so when they are in a slump or injured, the manager is under tremendous stress.
Kiwoom Heroes' manager Hong Won-ki has no time to feel this kind of stress. 슬롯사이트
Kiwoom's foreign starting pitcher, Enmanuel De Heisus, had a superb record of 10 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 3.14 in the first half, and Ariel Jurado also had a good record of 8 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 3.33 in 17 games.
As of the 3rd, Heisus is in first place in wins and third place in the league in ERA.
Hurado is in fifth place in ERA.
Foreign hitter Ronnie Dawson, who joined as a replacement for Addison Russell last year, is also performing well.
Dawson recorded a batting average of 0.361, 10 home runs, and 44 RBIs in 76 games through the 3rd.
He ranks first in batting average in the KBO League.
Dawson is receiving the lowest salary (600,000 dollars) among the 2024 KBO League foreign players, but he is showing overwhelming performance and making Manager Hong Won-ki smile.
Ahead of the home game against the LG Twins in the 2024 professional baseball league at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 4th, Manager Hong Won-ki recalled, "I had a meal with the three players at a Chinese restaurant before the season opened."
Manager Hong said, "At that time, I told the players, 'We don't think of you as mercenaries, but as family,' and asked them, 'There are many young players on the team, so please lead the team well.'
The three players did not forget that request and held the team together well."
He added, "We think of the three players as family," and "I think this mindset and the team atmosphere affect the game performance."
Kiwoom is currently in last place with 35 wins and 45 losses as of the 3rd.
However, Kiwoom has recently been on an upward trend and has won six consecutive games, chasing the 5th place SSG Landers by five games.
Since the game gap is not that big, they can move up to the upper ranks at any time.
Coach Hong Won-ki said, "A winning streak and a losing streak are determined by small differences," and added, "When our team lost streaks, there were many cases where we collapsed in close games, but through this process, the young players gained a lot of experience.
That's why there is hope for the second half."
When asked to name one of the team's best players in the first half, he mentioned backup catcher Kim Jae-hyun.
Coach Hong Won-ki praised him, saying, "Kim Jae-hyun led the foreign pitchers well and did a good job on defense.
He played a big role in raising the team spirit."
