Post Lee Dae-ho still needs time
Lotte manager Larry Sutton said about Han Dong-hee, who was canceled the previous day (7th), ahead of the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes match on the 8th, "We need time." Mentally, we need to put down (the burden) and make sure to take the amount of training," he said. It is Han Dong-hee's second time to cancel her entry to the first division since June. This season, Han Dong-hee has a batting average of 0.217, four home runs, 28 RBIs, 23 points, and an on-base percentage of 0.266 slugging percentage of 0.303 OPS 0.569. At the end of the game on the 8th, it is 4.5 games away from the fifth-ranked Doosan Bears. This is why Lotte, which is fiercely fighting for rankings, made a decision. Han Dong-hee, who graduated from Busan National University Yeoncho, Gyeongnam Middle School, and Gyeongnam High School, has been attracting attention as a "post Lee Dae-ho" since joining Lotte as the first nomination for the 2018 rookie draft. Lee Dae-ho (41, retired) was in the same position as his high school junior, and his excellent long-hitting power was impressive. In the first two years, he was active in the Futures League, easily surpassing OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) 1 every year. He started to hit double-digit home runs in his third year, and finished the season with a batting average of .300 for the first time since his debut last year. In particular, in April last year, he won his first monthly MVP with a batting average of 0.427, seven home runs, 22 RBIs, and OPS of 1.249 in 24 games, reaching the highest expectations in line with Lee Dae-ho's retirement season. Before Sutton explained his move to the second division, he said, "Han Dong-hee has a good grip on the strike zone when he has a good sense of hitting and is a player who steadily makes good hits regardless of the result. It was for this reason that he praised me, saying, "I hope I can find my best self." However, this year, the first season without Lee Dae-ho, was not good from the start, and in June, he suffered from being eliminated from the final entry of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which was considered likely to be last season. The head coach found the reason out of the burden of expectations of "post Lee Dae-ho." Coach Sutton said, "You can get the most accurate answer by asking Han Dong-hee himself. However, looking back on my conversation with the player, Han Dong-hee seems to have felt a lot of pressure herself. After Lee Dae-ho retired, I was expected to be a "post Lee Dae-ho," and I was under a lot of stress as I entered the center lineup, he said. "When the batting cycle falls, I should approach more simply, but I think I have more thoughts as I try harder." Lee Dae-ho was a legend who represented the KBO League and Korea beyond Lotte, as his nickname "Chosun's No. 4 hitter" suggests. Amid the recent trend in the baseball world, where right-handed big guns are becoming increasingly rare, many prospects have drawn attention as "post Lee Dae-ho," but it is no match for the burden of Han Dong-hee, a junior directly under Gyeongnam High School and Lotte. An anonymous Lotte player said, "How well (Han) Dong-hee wants to do. No one knows how he feels but himself. It's not that I haven't experienced it, but Dong-hee has no choice but to overcome it anyway. No matter how much people around you work hard, it's never easy. In the end, we have to solve it on our own," he said, expressing regret. If a player has no possibility at all, his teammates, coaches, or fans do not expect it. He is considered the best player in the league along with Noh Si-hwan (23, Hanwha Eagles). In the end, time is needed time. Coach Sutton said, "We talked about this at the beginning of the season. "We don't want post-Lee Dae-ho, but we want him to be the best version of Han Dong-hee," he said. "However, there are many people comparing Lee Dae-ho and Han Dong-hee, and there are many things to read and listen to, so Han Dong-hee seems to have more thoughts. I think time will tell. "It is important to post it when Han Dong-hee is ready on her own," he said, expressing his intention to wait.