“I got a little goosebumps. When (Kim) Kang Ryul came up, I thought of the old days a lot.”
Yang Eui-ji of the Doosan Bears started as catcher number 3 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League KIA Tigers match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 13th and played a big role with 2 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 home run, 2 RBIs and 1 walk. Doosan reaped a 5-1 victory thanks to Yang Eui-ji’s performance.
Yang Eui-ji hit his second home run of the season in 15 games, and had a three-game hitting streak. The batting average for the season rose from 0.270 to 0.275. It was a welcome home run. It has been 1674 days since the NC game on October 12, 2018, that Yang Eui-ji hit a home run in Jamsil, the home stadium, wearing a Doosan uniform.
After the game, Yang Eui-ji said, “I think it’s difficult to hit a home run in Jamsil. I kept being conscious, so I didn’t hit a home run, but today I hit it simply and got a good result. I think I will have to go on base a lot. If I do that, I will get a good home run.”
Then, when asked about the home run situation in detail, he said, “These days, pitchers have good control. There were many at-bats where I couldn’t swing my swing, but coach Kim Joo-chan and coach Goto told me before I went into the at-bat to boldly hit far from the front. I didn’t know it would come out,” he said.
Yang Eui-ji, who has hit 20 home runs for five consecutive years, has a slow home run pace this year. Yang Eui-ji laughed, “It’s the worst,” and said, “I’m trying to clear my mind, but I’m very conscious. It’s still early in the season, and I’ll prepare well for what I can. There’s no guarantee that I’ll hit a few this year, but I’ll do my best in every game at bat. If you do, I think there will be good results in the end.”
Catcher Yang Eui-ji showed off good battery chemistry with starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong. Choi Seung-yong achieved his second win of the season with 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and 1 run in 6 innings.
Yang Eui-ji, who looked back at Choi Seung-yong’s pitch, said, “It seems that I passed the first inning well and threw it comfortably from then on. It worked well for me to play quickly and boldly toward the body when there was power in the fastball at the beginning of the game. In the middle, I mixed a slider and changeup, and the result was good. It came out,” he said, revealing the secret of the hot fight.
It was veteran Kim Kang-ryul who guarded the Doosan mound in the 9th inning that day. Kim Kang-ryul made his first appearance this season and worked with Yang Eui-ji after a long time.
Yang Eui-ji smiled, saying,스포츠토토 “I got a little goosebumps. When Kang Ryul-i came up, I thought of the old days. It was similar to the feeling when (Lee) Yong-chan came to NC and threw it the year before last.”
Doosan caught KIA two days in a row and recorded 16 wins, 1 draw and 16 losses, raising the ranking to 5th place alone. In addition, the atmosphere of the team revived as they secured a winning series over the weekend. Yang Eui-ji pledged to play an active part, saying, “Seniors must exert more effort. Young pitchers are throwing well, so the more they play, the better the results will be. I think our seniors will have to work hard to keep the atmosphere going.”