Park Byung-ho, 38, the ‘national giant’ who can change 180° with a new uniform, is flying high after joining the Samsung Lions.
Park, who was traded from the KT Wiz to the Samsung Lions on March 28 after a tumultuous start to the season, has been on fire in five games, batting .389 (7-for-18) with two home runs and seven RBIs and a 1.365 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).
He came out firing on all cylinders from his first game with Samsung.
On May 29, the day after the trade, Park, who started in the No. 6 spot against the Daegu Kiwoom Heroes, hit a solo home run to left field with the bases loaded in the fourth inning with Samsung trailing 1-8.
Two days later against the Hanwha Eagles in Daegu, South Korea, 바카라사이트 Park went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Park singled to left field in the first inning, followed by a single to left field in the fifth inning, and with runners on second and third in the sixth inning with the score tied at 5-5, he launched a three-run shot over the left field wall. The home run was the game-winner.
Samsung went on to win the game 8-6 thanks to Park’s home run.
Park also blasted a three-run homer against Hanwha on March 1 with runners on first and third in the first inning of a 0-0 tie. The home run gave Samsung an early lead and the team went on to win 6-4.
In the second game of the day, Samsung defeated Hanwha 1-0, with one valuable run coming off the bat of Byung-ho Park. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning, Park hit a single to right-center field.
It was a far cry from his performance earlier this season with KT. In 44 games with KT this year, Park was batting just .198 (20-for-101) with three home runs, 토토사이트 추천 10 RBIs, and a .638 OPS.
This isn’t the first time Byung-ho Park has changed after switching teams.
After being drafted in the first round in 2005, Byung-ho Park was highly touted and labeled as a perennial big-league prospect by the LG Twins. He didn’t hit double-digit home runs until 2010, when he played for LG.
A move to the Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom) was the turning point in Park’s baseball career.
After being traded from LG to Nexen in July 2011, Park hit 13 home runs that year. It was the first time he had hit double-digit home runs in a season since his professional debut, showing his potential.
Since then, Park has grown into one of the KBO’s most dominant sluggers.
After winning his first home run title in 2012 with 31 home runs, Park won four consecutive home run titles from 2012-2015. In 2014 and 2015, he hit 52 and 53 home runs, respectively, joining Lee Seung-yeop and Shim Jung-soo as the only hitters to hit more than 50 home runs in a season.
Park, who also won the title in 2019 with 33 home runs, struggled in the following two years.
He hit 20 or more home runs in 2020 (21) and 2021 (20), but his batting average dropped significantly. His batting average was .223 in 2020 and .227 in 2021. It was said that the aging curve (the decline in athletic performance with age) had set in.
After the slump, Park decided to make another change. He became a free agent after the 2021 season and signed a three-year, $3 billion contract with KT.
After switching to KT, Byung-ho Park came back to life. He rebounded in 2022, hitting .275 with 35 home runs, 98 RBIs, and an OPS of .908 in 124 games. He won his sixth career batting title and became the oldest player in history to win the batting title.
After batting .283 with 18 home runs and 87 RBIs in 2023,
Park struggled mightily early in the season and eventually fell out of contention for the starting job, significantly reducing his playing time.
He then requested a release or transfer from KT, which became the center of controversy.
After a series of twists and turns, Park Byung-ho switched teams and is now singing the same song of resurrection as he did in his previous move.
Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, is one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the KBO. The distance from home plate is 99.5 meters from the left and right field fences and 122.5 meters from the center field fence, but the octagonal shape of the stadium allows for a lot of home runs.
From the time Park Byung-ho joined the team, there were many expectations that he would take advantage of the home field advantage to revive his career.
The three home runs he hit after moving to Samsung were large home runs with distances of 120 meters, 125 meters, and 110 meters. 바카라사이트 This had little to do with the ballpark structure, but the fact that it was a hitter-friendly ballpark may have had a positive impact on Park’s psychology.
Samsung didn’t have the advantage of a home run-prone ballpark. Rather, it was the ease with which they gave up home runs that hurt them.
However, if Park Byung-ho can bounce back and establish himself as the No. 4 hitter, the team will be able to take advantage of the home field advantage.