Season batting average 0.195. Doosan Bears’ Jo Soo-dong, who was struggling in his batting, compensated for his weaknesses with strengths. His strengths, quick feet and bunts, shined in offense and defense, contributing most to breaking KIA’s dominance.
Cho Soo-haeng started as the 9th hitter and right fielder in the 3rd game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League series against KIA held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. Cho Soo-haeng scored 2 hits and 1 point in 3 at-bats on this day, leading the team to a 3-0 victory. All of Jo Soo-haeng’s hits that day were bunts.
His performance also shined in defense. 4th inning, 2 outs, runner on first base. He followed KIA Choi Hyeong-woo’s big batted ball and caught it to end the inning, and in the 5th inning with two outs and runners on first and second base, he caught KIA Choi Won-jun’s big batted ball that flew in the same course as the 4th inning and overcame the crisis.
In addition to escaping the team’s second consecutive loss, he contributed most to Doosan’s recovery to a .500 win rate, with a season record of 56 wins, 1 draw, and 56 losses.
Jo Su-haeng met with reporters after the game that day and expressed his thoughts, saying, “I couldn’t let go of the tension.” Jo Soo-haeng recalled, “Because all the KIA hitters were so good, I was so intimidated that I couldn’t let go of my nerves. This opportunity gave me even more confidence.”
The second defense, full of concentration, prevented KIA’s 10th consecutive win, which was in ruins. Nevertheless, he said humbly, “I don’t know if I could say I stopped it,” and “I think we won because our pitchers and hitters were all so good.”
In fact, Cho Su-haeng was more familiar with being a defender and pinch runner this season. However, recently, Cho Soo-haeng has been consistently listed on the starting list. Regarding this, he said, “Because I wasn’t able to appear as a starter often, I thought I had to do my best to play as much as I could when I did.”
The highlight is the surprise bunt that came in the 7th inning. Cho Soo-haeng, who missed the first pitch against KIA pitcher Kim Dae-yu, bunted a surprise bunt on the second pitch and the ball fell in front of the pitcher. Dae-yu Kim hurriedly caught the ball and threw it to first base, but the result was safe. At that time, getting on base led to a final that broke KIA’s will to chase.
Did he aim for this bunt? Was it an order from the bench? Jo Soo-haeng explained, “I always make my own decisions,” but “the director always ordered me to ‘do whatever you’re confident in.’ I think I did it with more confidence and peace of mind thanks to this request.”
It was the same when he chose to bunt instead of batting in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and a runner on second base. Cho Soo-haeng said, “At that time, it was a chance to score, but (Jeong) Soo-bin was next and I had to lead him to the top batting line. I thought that no matter how many singles I hit, my chances of scoring were low. So I had a good chance of scoring with a bunt.” “I thought I would raise it a bit,” he said.
Cho Su-haeng covered up his hitting, which was mentioned as his weakness, with his quick feet and bunts, which are his strengths. Jo Soo-haeng, who said, “My strengths are that I have fast feet and am good at bunting,” added, “I thought that if I went out as the leadoff hitter as much as possible, I would be able to shake up the opposing pitcher more. So bunting with confidence was actually more effective.” Thought.토스카지노
Regarding his poor performance in batting this season, he expressed his true feelings, saying, “Honestly, I was very impatient.” He added, “I practiced more, but the results didn’t come out, so I thought I would somehow show my strengths when I was selected.”
Choi Won-jun, who was selected as the winning pitcher on this day, also praised Cho Su-haeng’s performance that day. Choi Won-jun gave credit, saying, “Cho Soo-haeng’s two good defenses were of great help to me. I could have come off the mound before then, but I think I was able to go until the 5th inning because Cho Soo-haeng played good defense.”