Was the burden of being the cleanup hitter in their debut too heavy? Doosan, whose ace card brought out by manager Lee Seung-yep returned in failure, is on the verge of dropping to the bottom following four consecutive losses.

On the 12th, Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yep drafted the starting lineup for the game against the LG Twins in Jamsil and appointed Choo Jae-hyun, who joined through a major trade with the Lotte Giants, as the cleanup hitter. This was Choo Jae-hyun's first appearance as a cleanup hitter since being selected 28th overall in the second round of the 2018 Nexen Heroes draft.

Manager Lee Seung-yep noted, "(Choo) Jae-hyun is good. Due to team circumstances, I had to arrange the batting order this way," adding, "I hadn’t seen Jae-hyun much during his time at Sangmu and Lotte, but seeing him for the first time this year, he seems to be a good contact hitter. He has the type that doesn't simply go down weakly with a groundout at the plate. The quality of his hits is good, and he is currently doing well enough to meet the expectations we had during the camp."

At the time, Choo Jae-hyun's appointment as a cleanup hitter was regarded as quite a good strategy. Given the losing streak, it was important to stack up scores with contact hitters rather than relying solely on power, and Choo Jae-hyun, who earned the MVP of the first spring camp with precise contact and a smooth swing, seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Choo recently boasted a batting average of .318 (7 hits in 22 at-bats) with 1 home run and 3 RBIs over 5 games, including hitting in 3 consecutive games.

Was the burden of being the cleanup hitter in their debut too heavy? Contrary to expectations, Choo Jae-hyun appeared diminished between the 3rd hitter Yang Eui-ji and the 5th hitter Yang Seok-hwan. He came to bat as the leadoff hitter in the second inning but was struck out swinging by LG ace Yoni Chirinos and left the plate weakly. In the fourth inning, with two outs and a runner on first base, he faced Chirinos again and ended the inning with a groundout to the shortstop.

Coincidentally, chances kept presenting themselves to cleanup hitter Choo Jae-hyun in the latter half of the game. If Choo had capitalized at least once, manager Lee Seung-yep would have received accolades as a master strategist, but Choo was not a prepared cleanup hitter. In the sixth inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, he struck out swinging again against Chirinos, and in the eighth inning with two outs and a runner on first, he struck out swinging again against Lee Ji-gang, lowering his head.

Choo Jae-hyun's record as a first-time cleanup hitter was 4 at-bats with no hits and 3 strikeouts. With the end of his hitting streak in 3 games, his season batting average plummeted from .273 to .243. It seems the pressure of taking on the cleanup role negatively impacted his confidence. The cleanup card for Choo Jae-hyun was a thorough failure.

Doosan suffered a complete defeat of 0-4 against rival LG, falling into a quagmire of four consecutive losses after a brief moment of joy achieving a .500 win percentage on the 8th. Their win-loss margin widened to –4 (7 wins, 11 losses), and they dropped to a tie for 7th place with no gap between them, Hanwha Eagles, and Kiwoom Heroes, alongside the bottom-ranked KIA Tigers.

If they lose to LG again on the 13th, they could fall to the bottom for the first time in about two weeks since March 30. Can Doosan find a breakthrough?

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