What is the opening position?
The Hanwha Eagles started the first round of training for the 2023 season spring camp at Bellbank Park in Mesa, Arizona, on the 2nd (Korean time). Under the direction of coach Carlos Subero, the three foreign players and the main team of domestic players who started in Korea all joined normally and successfully completed the first training session.
Chae Eun-seong (33), who changed into a Hanwha uniform by exercising her free agent (FA) rights during the Stove League, also started preparing for the new season in earnest. Chae Eun-seong signed a large sum of 9 billion won in 6 years and joined the ‘Eagle Corps’. He is the most anticipated player in Hanwha’s central batting line this season.
Chae Eun-seong, who has an ‘average’ in batting, is considered a beast that will definitely help improve Hanwha’s offensive power. However, his place in the new season has not yet been fixed. Because he still has a question mark in the defensive position.
Chae Eun-seong mainly played as a first baseman in the 2022 season when he was a member of the LG Twins. Prior to that, he had played as an outfielder, but a change in position established him as a first baseman. However, he was put in a situation where he had to think about a defensive position again as he transferred to Hanwha through free agency after the season.
Last year, Hanwha’s main first baseman was Kim In-hwan (29). Kim In-hwan played full-time for the first time since his debut, recording a batting average of 0.261, 16 homers, 54 RBIs and 48 runs in 113 games. With Chae Eun-sung joining, position duplication occurred at first base. 바카라
In order to utilize both Kim In-hwan and Chae Eun-seong, it would be ideal for Hanwha to have Chae Eun-seong take a spot in the outfield. However, since Chae Eun-seong did not play as an outfielder during the 2022 season, in this case, he must take a considerable risk.
Coach Subero is thinking about the defensive position of Chae Eun-seong. Chae Eun-seong is also well aware of this, so throughout the off-season, he trained individually with both outfielders and first basemen in mind. He is expected to conduct two-track defensive training in spring camp as well.
If you use the designated hitter position, the position rotation and coexistence of Chae Eun-seong and Kim In-hwan becomes even easier. You can use the two hitters with long hitting power to the fullest. If Brian O’Grady, a new foreign hitter, does his part, he can definitely build a stronger batting line in terms of power.
In the end, it is expected that traffic control will be finally achieved through the performance of Chae Eun-sung’s spring camp. Since his defense power has as much impact on the team’s performance as batting, it is already raising questions about what kind of gloves Chae Eun-seong will wear to play in the opening match.