Lee Jung-hoo's advice, which flew across the sea, finished organizing the idea of "Lee Jung-hoo's successor." "I won't die easily this year."

Lee Jung-hoo's advice, which flew across the sea, finished organizing the idea of "Lee Jung-hoo's successor." "I won't die easily this year."

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Recently, Kiwoom Heroes outfielder Lee Ju-hyeong (aged 24) received a welcome message. It was Lee Jung-hoo (aged 27, San Francisco Giants) who plays in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB). He had a lot of worries as the hitting effect rarely increased before the exhibition game. Lee said to Lee, "Bro, (the hitting) is not working well."스포츠토토

Listening to his junior's concerns, Lee advised him to put pressure on his left heel when training. As soon as he put it into action, the result came out immediately. Lee responded with multiple hits in the first exhibition game (against the NC Dinos on August 8). Upon hearing the news of the hit, Lee said, "He practices like that consistently," but added, "Think of it as a spring camp until the demonstration game, and don't pay too much attention to the result (demonstration game)."

On the 11th, he even hit a home run. In the exhibition game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against KT Wiz held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, he started as the third batter and center fielder and swung two hits, two RBIs and two runs from three times at bat. He hit a solo home run in the third inning when the score was 1-1, and became the winner of the final home run. He failed to make a hit in the past two games, but he raised his batting sense again with the home run on the day.

After the game, Lee Ju-hyung said, "I didn't feel very good because I couldn't hit yesterday and the day before yesterday," but added, "I paid a lot of attention because my hitting timing and rhythm were not good, but as my thoughts were sorted out, I came out to practice after a long time."

Lee seems to be gradually getting his thoughts sorted out along with Lee Jung-hoo's advice. Lee displayed stellar performance in 2023 by posting a batting average of 0.326 (70 hits in 215 at-bats for 69 games), but slowed down a bit last year by posting a batting average of 0.266 (126 hits in 473) in 115 games. "I feel different every day. However, I try to maintain my basic thinking and routine well. I thought that if I keep making changes, I can lose even my strengths that I had," Lee said, reflecting on his poor performance last year. "I come to the stadium earlier than others and sweat a lot to make a better year."

Lee Ju-hyeong's shoulders are heavier this year. This is because all of the main hitters in Korea, including Lee Jung-hoo and Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers), left the team in two years. Kiwoom has strengthened its batting lineup by recruiting two foreign hitters (Jaciel Puig and Ruben Cardinez), but as they are forward-deployed in the batting order of 1st and 2nd, we need a native hitter who should lead the central batting line. Lee Ju-hyeong is expected to take the role. Like Lee Jung-hoo before leaving for the U.S., he is likely to play the role of troubleshooter in the third batting order.

"I don't know how many times I will be batting this year, but my goal is to survive (on the first base) without dying as much as possible. Last year, I was easily thrown out, but this year, I want to show my best performance (to the end)." He hit his first double-digit home run since his debut last year with 13 home runs, but he is not very greedy to hit long balls. "I hope (homer games) will be as good as last year," he said calmly.