LG Twins infielder Koo Bon-hyuk (27) played in the most games since his debut in this season. Koo, who vigorously prepared to return to the military after being discharged from the military at the end of last year, is expected to have a fruitful season and be rewarded with his first multi-billion dollar salary.안전놀이터
Looking back on this year, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said, "The fielders played baseball with 10 players." Nine starting players and Koo Bon-hyuk, the backup player, played as the 10th fielders. The promising backup players in the spring camp, including Kim Bum-suk and Song Chan-ui, failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Koo spent his career high season playing as an infield utility.
Koo joined LG in the second round of the 2019 draft in the sixth round, and played in the first division as a backup from his first year. He mainly played as a logistical guard as his infield defense was stable. He returned after serving in the military at Sangmu from 2022-2023.
During this year's spring camp, Koo said, "I brought confidence in hitting in the military. I am confident in defense. I want to show a different batting performance."
Koo had a batting average of 176 (15 hits in 85 at-bats) in 57 games in 2019, a batting average of 163 (14 hits in 86 at-bats) in 125 games in 2020, and a batting average of 1302 (5 hits in 38 at-bats) in 123 games in 2021. Until last year, he had a career batting average of 163 (34 hits in 209) and two homers.
In his first season after being discharged from the military, Koo Bon-hyuk almost changed his position to the starting lineup. Oh Ji-hwan, the main shortstop, has been out for more than a month due to an injury since June, playing shortstop. When he played as a designated hitter due to Austin's knee injury in late July, Moon Bo-kyung moved to first base, and Koo Bon-hyuk played third base. In September, when Shin Min-jae, the main second baseman, was injured, Koo Bon-hyuk filled the second base position.
Koo Bon-hyuk played 368 innings as a shortstop, 247 innings as a third baseman, and 268 innings as a second baseman. The total number of defensive innings is 883 innings. This year, Oh Ji-hwan played 858 innings due to an injury gap, showing how much Koo Bon-hyuk played.
Koo played as a pinch hitter and a big hitter in the early days of this season, and displayed impressive batting performance. He became a hero with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning against the KT Wiz at Jamsil on April 6. He had a batting average of 318 (14 hits in 44 at-bats) and one homerun and 13 RBIs until the end of April.
By the end of May, he played in 50 games with a batting average of .32 (35 hits in 116 at-bats) with two home runs, 27 RBIs and 22 runs, recording an amazing record not only in defense but also in batting.
However, his performance has declined sharply since June with a batting average of 233 (52 hits in 223 times at bat) in 83 games, 0 homers, 16 RBIs, 26 runs scored and OPS. Suddenly, he had more chances to play in games, and he couldn't overcome his physical limitations in hitting games.
He finished the season with a batting average of 257 (87 hits in 339 times at bat) in 133 games, two homers, 43 RBIs, 48 runs scored, and OPS.662. He has become a batter who hits a single shot at a chance from a total of 100 batters in his career. "I'm glad that I'm not a ghost at bat anymore," Koo said, expressing satisfaction with his improved batting performance. Koo had an annual salary of 70 million won this year. His annual salary will definitely exceed 100 million won next year.
Looking back on this year, Koo Bon-hyuk, who finished his final camp, said, "I didn't expect to play that much. It was good to show a lot of what I prepared in the spring camp. But I still felt that I needed to supplement my physical strength."