It’s been a roller coaster ride. But he’s on his way to becoming a regular second baseman. Ko Seung-min, 24, of the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization, is learning the importance of consistency.
He started at second base against the LG Twins in Ulsan on March 3 and went 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI in the team’s 8-3 win. It was his seventh three-hit game of the season.
After striking out in his first at-bat of the day in the first inning, Go hit a single to right in his second at-bat of the day in the third. In the fifth inning, he singled to left to put runners on first and second with one out, but Yoon Dong-hee grounded out to short to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh inning, with the score tied 3-3, he batted fourth. Pinch-hitter Hwang Sung-bin singled, stole second base, and Yoon Dong-hee singled to left field to put runners on second and third. LG brought in Kim Jin-sung to neutralize Go Seung-min. Go Seung-min took advantage of Kim’s struggles to get out of the jam and took advantage of a favorable three-pitch, one-strike count, and on the fifth pitch, he lined a 125-kilometer forkball over the right-field fence for a timely double. It was the game-winning hit of the day, and the game was won with one more run in the eighth inning.
In fact,
Go Seung-min’s performance at the plate was fine, but his defense left a lot to be desired. Before hitting the game-winning hit, he had a chest rub in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and second, pitcher Jin Hae-soo induced Moon Bo-kyung to ground out to shortstop. It looked like it was going to be an easy double play, but shortstop Park Seung-seung’s low toss was not caught by Go Seung-min at first. The runner was out at second, but the throw to first didn’t go through, and the crisis continued with runners on second and third. 파워볼실시간 Jin Hae-su also made a hesitant gesture to express his disappointment. In the ensuing crisis, he struck out Oh Ji-hwan to keep the game from getting out of hand.
In the top of the eighth inning, after the 4-3 victory, he seemed to handle the leadoff hitter Kim Hyun-soo’s grounder with ease, but he made a bad throw to first base. Fortunately, first baseman Na Seung-yeop caught the errant throw and tagged Kim out, but it was still a heartbreaking moment.
Ko Seung-min, who joined the team in the second round of the 2019 rookie draft, has been settling in at second base since this year after wandering around the position. He played second base in his rookie season in 2019, but then switched to the outfield and then to first base before the 2023 season, when he was established as an outfielder.
He started training at second base again in last year’s final camp and tried to settle in at second base in spring training, but an injury to Kim Min-seok forced him to move back to the outfield.
However, in early April, he was sent down to the second team due to a severe slump.
He prepared for his return to the first team by going through the batting form adjustment process and gaining practice experience at second base again. Eventually, his position became second base, and he never took off his glove unless there was a special circumstance, such as exhausting the bases.The batting form adjustment process was successful, and he is now a second baseman who can hit mid- to long-range home runs. In three games, he’s back to batting .340 with three hits and an OPS of .8. He’s now batting .301 (90-for-299) with seven home runs, 53 RBIs, 52 runs scored, and an .807 OPS in 76 games with regular at-bats.
In late June, he sprained his left thumb while making a head-first slide to first base and missed the entire first half of the season. He returned in the second half, but was just 2-for-8 (11-for-53) in his first 14 games.
He lost the hot hand he had before the injury.
However, he started to regain his touch by hitting his first home run in the first three at-bats of the second half against the Changwon NC on the 27th, and he is regaining his touch by having another three-hit game on the same day. He is learning the value of taking care of his body, defense, and consistency. After the LG Electronics tournament on the 3rd, Go Seung-min said, “I’m learning a lot defensively by playing a fixed position full-time. I feel like I’m gaining a lot of experience defensively as it’s physically tough. I will focus more on defense and work harder so that I can grow in the future.”
“I had three hits today, but I might not have any tomorrow. I’ve been hitting well and not so well lately. I need to make sure that I can produce good at-bats consistently without any ups and downs,” he concluded.