Lotte's infield also has a 'Lotto'! Three-base hits 'Bang Bang' for two consecutive days...The giant shortstop, who was built-in, also has the wind of "competition."
Lotte's infield also has a 'Lotto'! Three-base hits 'Bang Bang' for two consecutive days...The giant shortstop, who was built-in, also has the wind of "competition."
Blog Article
"I'll do my best"
Lotte Giants' Lee Ho-joon started as shortstop and seventh batter in the away match of the season's second game between the Hanwha Eagles and the team in the 2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 3rd, and flew 2 hits, 2 runs and 1 walk in 3 at-bats, helping Lotte to win 3 consecutive games.
Lee Ho-joon was selected by Lotte as the 23rd overall pick in the third round of the 2024 Rookie Draft. Although he is not very tall at 172cm, he has been well-received in terms of defensive range and throwing ability since he was an amateur, and he began to receive opportunities in the first team little by little in July last year. Last year, Lee Ho-joon, who mainly played as a second baseman, shortstop, and pinch hitter, showed impressive performance with a batting average of 0.333 OPS 1.262 in 12 games.
In response, Lee Ho-joon has been listed in Lotte's Tainan spring camp for the first team this year. Lee Ho-joon, however, has not produced a single hit in eight exhibition games, and has not displayed impressive performance with a batting average of .217 this year, but he has successfully been called to the first team at a time when Lotte made a significant change in its entry on April 28. And Lee Ho-joon is taking this opportunity properly.
Lee Ho-joon did not receive a chance to start in the early days of the first-team call-up. However, he was listed in the starting lineup for the first time in his showdown with the KT Wiz on April 30, and displayed a "third base" game with two hits, one RBI, one run and one out, including a triple, in his showdown with the Hanwha Eagles on April 2. Asked about Lee Ho-joon ahead of the match on Thursday, Kim said, "I just want him to be solid in defense," adding, "Lee Ho-joon has the best defense. He had good batting and good defense yesterday (on April 2), so I will use him as a starter."
Lee Ho-joon was proudly listed in the starting lineup in the game on Thursday, but once again exploded his presence. In his first at-bat in the second inning, Lee grounded out to the first baseman against Hanwha's "Ace" Cody Ponce, and in the bottom of the fourth inning, he failed to catch Kim Tae-yeon's fly ball, making a shaky start. However, Lee Ho-joon began to play in the middle of the game.
With runners on first base with no outs and a hit by leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee in the bottom of the fifth inning at 0-0, Lee was outspoken when Ponce's sixth fastball, 151 km, was formed in the middle of the strike zone at 2B-2S. And the hit led to a double to right field. Lotte got the chance to score with Lee Ho-joon's hit, and Cho In-geun's timely hit scored the first run. Lee Ho-joon then homered on Jeon Joon-woo's sacrifice fly to score. 스포츠토토
His performance didn't stop at once. In his third at-bat as a leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh inning, Lee drew a walk to complete a multi-base hit, and in the top of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead, Lee exploded a triple to right field off Hanwha's changed pitcher Han Seung-hyuk. And Lee Ho-joon dug home on Information-geun's grounder toward shortstop and scored a second run, helping Lotte to its third consecutive win.
Due to lack of infield depth last year, Lotte did not easily replace its entry despite Park's poor performance. However, it is different this year. The number of resources that can be used as shortstop has increased significantly, including Lee Ho-joon, Han Tae-yang and Jeon Min-jae. And Lee Ho-joon has been impressive enough to greatly influence the team's victory beyond filling the void of Park Seung-wook. This shows that Lotte's depth has improved in just one year.
In particular, Lee Ho-joon, who played a pivotal role in Lotte's winning three consecutive games, made an effort reminiscent of "Loto-jun," who followed manager Lee Ho-joon of the NC Dinos when he was active, and clenched his two fists, saying, "It's been a while since I've received such attention," but added, "I'll do my best to show good performance to fans." Lotte's infield also has a "Loto."