“I think it’s a turning point.”
Doosan Bears Park Joon-young was third baseman and 9th batter in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League Kiwoom Heroes and team 11th home match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 9th. As a starter, he went 3 at bats with 3 hits (1 home run), 3 RBIs, 2 runs and 1 walk.
Park Joon-young, who had a bad feeling from the start of the game. He got off to a good start with a hit against Kiwoom starter Jeong Chan-heon in the first at-bat in the second inning. A good flow continued. At the end of the 4th inning with a 2-0 lead, Park Joon-young entered the second at-bat with a chance to score with 1 out, 1st and 2nd base, and this time also scored a hit against Jeong Chan-heon. And in this process, luck followed. Kiwoom left fielder Park Joo-hong attempted a diving catch to Park Jun-young’s line drive, but the ball fell backwards, leading to a 2-RBI triple.
The best result came in the third at-bat. In the bottom of the 6th inning, which was pursued 6-2, Park Joon-young became the lead batter and hit a 137km slider on the 5th pitch of Ha Young-min, the changed pitcher of Kiwoom, and hit a solo home run over the left fence. This left him with only a double to ‘hit for the cycle’. However, he had a walk in his last at-bat, and it did not lead to a broken record without further hitting opportunities.토토사이트주소
However, as a result of Park Joon-young’s 3 hits and 3 RBIs, Doosan took the lead in winning 8 consecutive wins in 1851 days after the Gocheok Nexen (now Kiwoom) Heroes on June 6, 2018 and the KT Wiz in Jamsil on June 14. After stepping on the pro stage, there were several 3-hit games, but there was no doubt that it was one of the most memorable days among many games.
He knew that hitting a double in the fourth at-bat would complete a ‘hit for the cycle’. Wouldn’t it be sad Park Joon-young said, “I didn’t think too much about it. I’m very proud of the fact that it helped the team achieve a winning streak.” I didn’t, and I just wanted to get on base,” he smiled.
After hitting a home run on this day, he even received a ‘indifferent’ ceremony. Park Joon-young said, “I thought that if I hit a home run, the hyungs would celebrate indifferently, and I tried to have fun so that the atmosphere wouldn’t be disturbed even if the ceremony came in.” When I saw the defender keep going backwards, I thought I could get over it.”
Park Joon-young received the first nomination from the NC Dinos in the 2016 rookie draft. He was a pitcher at the time of joining, but underwent elbow surgery in his first year of joining, and after completing his military service as a public service agent, he changed his position to a hitter. Later, while gaining experience in NC, he underwent shoulder dislocation surgery in October of last year and was excluded from the list of protected players.
After moving to Doosan, Park Joon-young, who had been working hard on rehabilitation, started playing in the 2nd team in late May and hit 4 home runs in the last 10 games, and after a show of force, he was called up to the 1st team for the first time on the 7th. And in the first game of his transfer, he reported his first hit as a pinch hitter, and showed a good game enough to aim for a hit for the cycle on the 9th. After moving to Doosan, he might not have been impatient when he was not given a chance in the first team.
He said, “I wanted to come up perfectly prepared myself. Fortunately, the team is in a winning streak, and I also came up in a situation with good records, which gave me confidence and was a plus.” I shared and received help. These are the people who helped me a lot mentally and technically.
If Na Gyun-an (Lotte) is a successful case of turning from a hitter to a pitcher, Park Joon-young can be a successful case of turning from a pitcher to a hitter. And ‘transfer’ can be a catalyst for full potential. He emphasized, “At first, it was difficult to accept (the transfer), but after meeting many people, it was not difficult to adapt. Director Lee Seung-yeop said, ‘Let’s hold out for a long time.’ I think the transfer is a turning point.”
Doosan’s starting third baseman is Heo Gyeong-min, and it is not easy to aim for the starting position right now. However, the fact that there are juniors who rise up can lead to a ‘synergy effect’. Park Joon-young said, “I am greedy for competing for the starting position in my position now. I think there will be a record. I will not re-injure the operated area and I will contribute to the fall baseball and championship of the team in the first team.”