9 ML teams and even the Japanese media gathered… Was Lee Jung-hoo nervous, replaced after 2 at bats with no hits
National team hitter Lee Jung-hoo, who is aiming to advance to the United States, resigned with no hits in two at-bats in front of scouts from multiple major league clubs.
On the 17th (hereafter Korean time)바카라, Lee Jung-hoo started as center fielder in the first evaluation match against the NC Dinos held at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, USA and recorded no hits in 2 at-bats.
In the first at-bat with a 0-0 lead in the first inning, Lee Jung-hoo retreated with a pitcher’s grounder against NC starting pitcher Shin Min-hyuk.
In the second at-bat, he missed a chance. He had a chance to run 1st and 2nd base in the 2nd inning with a 2-0 lead, but met Song Myung-ki, the second NC pitcher, and it was only a fly ball from shortstop.
Lee Jung-hoo was later replaced by Park Hae-min and finished the first real game without a hit.
On this day, major league scouts gathered at the stadium for Lee Kang-cheol-ho’s first actual game. Scouts from 9 clubs, including the prestigious New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals, visited the Keno Sports Complex.
The national team has quite a few promising players who can aim for the big leagues, such as Lee Jung-hoo, who is aiming to advance to the major leagues after the 2023 season, Go Woo-seok, and Kang Baek-ho. Prior to this, major league scouts observed Lee Jung-hoo at Kiwoom’s Arizona spring camp, and a Cubs scout was spotted in the first training session the previous day.
The Japanese press, who belonged to the same group at the WBC, also visited the stadium to cover the national team. Japan’s TBS Broadcasting filmed the national team’s evaluation match with a camera. A KBO official said, “We have officially requested the broadcaster to limit the video transmission time to 5 minutes due to concerns about exposure to electricity.”
Lee Kang-cheol-ho, who won the evaluation match against NC, will take a break on the 18th, train on the 19th, and play a second practice game against KIA on the 20th. Attention is focusing on whether Lee Jung-hoo, who has learned how to fight, will be able to display his original skills in the second round of evaluation. The second practice game is also expected to be attended by many major league officials.