Among the players and fans of the Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball, the most irritating player this season would undoubtedly be Park Hae-min (35), the center fielder for the LG Twins. Park Hae-min, who boasts the best center fielder defense in the KBO League, has been showcasing super catches against Hanwha in almost every series this year.

Starting from the first three consecutive games at Jamsil from March 25 to 27, Park Hae-min has robbed hits from Hanwha's batters, including Kim Tae-yean, with ease. Park Hae-min's excellent defense had a significant impact on Hanwha struggling with an early-season slump in their batting lineup.

In the game on the 30th of last month in Daejeon, Park Hae-min surprised everyone by robbing a home run-worthy hit from Chae Eun-seong that was going over the left-center field fence in the second inning. He caught the ball by going over the fence while supporting himself with his right hand and extending his left hand outward.

During the three consecutive games from the 27th to 29th at Jamsil, Park Hae-min continued to catch well-hit balls heading toward center field. In the game on the 29th, he chased down a long fly ball from Estevan Florial that was heading toward the warning track with two outs and a runner on first base in the third inning, preventing a run that could have scored if the ball had gotten past him.

After missing scoring opportunities early in the game, Hanwha ultimately lost 1-3. They lost the first game of the series 1-2, but retaliated with a 6-5 victory on the second day, only to lose the final day, finishing the three-game series against first-place LG with a record of 1 win and 2 losses. The gap has now widened to 3.5 games.

Kim Kyung-moon, the Hanwha manager, who engaged in fierce competition over the three games, noted before the game against NC in Changwon on the 30th, "We need to perform better in today’s first game than we did in the (previous) three-game series," and acknowledged Park Hae-min's continued excellent defense by saying, "We must praise the opponent for doing well. He is playing great defense."

On the same day, Hanwha faced NC’s right-handed starting pitcher, Ryan Thompson, and fielded a lineup consisting of Estevan Florial (center fielder), Ha Ju-suk (shortstop), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Roh Si-hwan (third baseman), Chae Eun-seong (first baseman), Lee Jin-young (right fielder), Ahn Chi-hong (designated hitter), Choi Jae-hun (catcher), and Hwang Young-mook (second baseman). The starting pitcher was Ryu Hyun-jin.

Ahn Chi-hong will start as a designated hitter for the third consecutive game since returning to the first team on the 28th. Manager Kim Kyung-moon mentioned the timing for Ahn Chi-hong to play defense, saying, "He needs to hit well first. If he can't hit, how can he play defense?" He added, "We'll look at how he hits first, then consider his defense. With the current condition of his wrist, it seems difficult for him to play second base. I hope he performs well as a designated hitter for now."

[OSEN]