Aaron Altair (32), who played for NC in 2020 and 2021 and hit 63 homers in two years, visited Tucson, Arizona, USA, where NC’s spring camp was held. Altair, whose home is nearby, had a good time meeting up with his old colleagues.
However, it could have been a somewhat unfamiliar team sight for Altair. This is because in 2021, the last year he played for NC, he did not see the players who formed the center line with him. Not too long ago, just two years ago, many of the members disappeared.
When analyzing the entire 2021 lineup of NC, the player who came out the most as the starting 3rd hitter was Na Seong-beom (127 games). 4 was Yang Eui-ji (123 games), 5 was Altair (106 games), and 6 was Noh Jin-hyuk (45 games). However, all four players who were the main hitters at the time, including himself, are no longer on the team.
This is because he left NC one after another in the free agent (FA) market. Ahead of the 2022 season, Na Seong-beom left Changwon, where he had been fond of after signing a six-year, total of 15 billion won contract with the KIA. Yang Eui-ji, the best catcher in the league, who was recruited ahead of the 2019 season, returned to his home team Doosan ahead of this season. Noh Jin-hyeok also signed a contract with Lotte for 4 years and 5 billion won and left for the neighborhood next to him.
The NC center batting line had nothing to be envied until then. But now it’s time to rebuild. It can be said to be NC’s biggest task in 2023.
NC is evaluated as a ‘dark horse’ in experts’ predictions this year. There are quite a few opinions that even 5 is possible. First of all, under the premise that Chang-mo Koo is healthy, the starting ‘Three Punch’ is evaluated as the best in the league. There is also a clear finish called Lee Yong-chan. The growth of young pitchers is also relatively smooth. However, it is true that the other line did not expect last year. So, this year, attention is focused on building the other line, especially the center line, which should be responsible for a significant portion of the team’s offensive power.
With Park Min-woo as the leadoff,토토사이트 NC is experimenting with the second forward deployment of newly recruited catcher Park Se-hyeok. As for the center batting line, Park Kun-woo and Martin Son Ah-seop, who did not exist when Altair was playing, are in the lineup, and Park Seok-min, who is eager to make a comeback, is likely to support the back.
Park Kun-woo and Son Ah-seop are players with a career batting average of over 30% in the KBO League. have their own Son A-seop, in particular, is eager to make up for last year’s slump. The new foreign hitter, Jason Martin, was sluggish in the demonstration game. However, as long as the performance is certain, it is expected that if he adapts to the league, he will give his own performance. Park Seok-min’s comeback can lead to clues if young hitters such as Seo Ho-cheol and Oh Young-soo do well. The players who left are unavoidable. One point to look at NC will be whether they can open a new era of center batting.