The player said he would be back. An Chi-hong (35, Hanwha Eagles), who is considered one of the most consistent players in professional baseball, also expected to return with time. However, as 40% of the season has passed, there are no signs of a comeback, leading to deepening concerns about An Chi-hong for Hanwha.

An Chi-hong has only managed a batting average of .059 (1 hit in 17 at-bats) in five games since his return to the first team from the LG game on the 28th of last month until the NC game on the 1st. He played as a designated hitter in all five games, but aside from one hit and one walk, he was out 16 times. Although he reported his first hit in the NC game on the 31st of last month, he was silent again with no hits in four at-bats in the NC game on the 1st, and Hanwha lost 5-16.

In the 1st inning with two outs and a runner on first base, he grounded out to third base, and in the 4th inning, he struck out on three pitches from rookie pitcher Kim Tae-hoon. After two consecutive fouls, he swung and missed at a low outside slider on the third pitch. In the 6th inning with no outs and a runner on first base, he attempted a surprise bunt on the first pitch from Son Ju-hwan, but it was a foul. Then, on the second pitch, he made contact with a slider that caught the inside, resulting in a popup to second base. The NC second baseman, Park Min-woo, did not field the ball while trying for a double play, which made it a groundball. In the 8th inning, with one out, he struck out swinging again at a low outside forkball from Bae Jae-hwan.

As of that day, An Chi-hong's season performance includes 21 games with a batting average of .088 (6 hits in 68 at-bats), no home runs, 5 RBIs, 6 walks, and 17 strikeouts, with an on-base percentage of .162, slugging percentage of .088, and OPS of .250. Although this sample size is not large, with over 70 plate appearances, he has a batting average below .100 and no extra-base hits. He has the lowest batting average and OPS among all 156 players in the league who have had over 30 plate appearances.

It is hard to believe these are An Chi-hong's statistics. An Chi-hong is known as a consistent player in the KBO League. Since debuting with KIA in 2009, he has signed two free agent contracts after moving to Lotte in 2020 and Hanwha last year. Over his 16 seasons, he has played 1,769 games with a batting average of .295 (6,218 at-bats, 1,835 hits), 153 home runs, 914 RBIs, and an OPS of .793, maintaining a batting average of .300 over 6 seasons with regular at-bats.

Even in his first year with Hanwha last year, An Chi-hong started slowly but still contributed with a batting average of .300 (142 hits in 473 at-bats), 13 home runs, and 66 RBIs over 128 games, with an OPS of .797. He also demonstrated his reliability in critical moments with the most clutch hits in the team, scoring 8 game-winning hits. This year, expectations were high for him to perform even better as the starting second baseman.

He has never been a player who struggles with baseball, but this year he is showing an inexplicable slump. The main reason is undoubtedly injury. Since the early part of the season, he has been suffering from aftereffects related to abdominal pain, leading to fluctuations in his condition. His right wrist has also been in poor condition, and he was removed from the first team roster on the 7th of last month, taking 16 days to heal and adjust.

He played three games in the Futures League and returned to the first team on the 23rd of last month, but the next day during a game against Lotte, his wrist condition worsened while making a defensive play at second base. After hitting a foul at bat later, he was substituted due to a recurrence of pain. As his hitting confidence did not improve, he was placed on the injured list again on the 6th of last month. At that time, Kim Kyung-moon, the Hanwha manager, noted, "His wrist is not fully healed. Fortunately, the team is doing well, so I decided to have him focus on treatment."

Since that day, An Chi-hong was given 22 days to recover. After his wrist healed, he played four games in the Futures League before returning to the first team again. In all five games since his return, he has focused solely on hitting as a designated hitter. Manager Kim Kyung-moon commented on An Chi-hong's return to defense, stating, "He has to hit well first. If he’s not hitting the bat well now, how can he play defense? With his wrist as it is, it seems difficult for him to play second base at the moment. I hope he can hit well as a designated hitter for now."

Having gone to the second team twice to improve his physical condition and with no defensive burden, there still seem to be no signs of a breakout. In the early part of the season, he had some unfortunate luck as well-hit balls went straight to fielders, but recently, even those well-hit balls have become a rarity.

An Chi-hong's batting average on balls in play (BABIP) stands at .118, which is absurdly low compared to his career average of .324. This is the lowest among 140 batters who have faced more than 50 plate appearances this year. This abnormal figure indicates that he has not had the usual luck with his hits. Given the nature of baseball, which tends to regress to the mean, it is unlikely that An Chi-hong's performance will remain this poor until the end of the season. Because he has a reliable career history, Manager Kim Kyung-moon is using him as a regular player, sticking with him through thick and thin. They are trying to ensure he gets as many at-bats as possible to regain his hitting form. Although 40% of the season has passed, he still has not reached 100 plate appearances. However, his strikeout rate of 23.0% is significantly higher than his career mark of 13.3%, which is concerning.

For Hanwha, who has a weak offense compared to their pitching staff, they cannot afford to put aside a proven hitter like An Chi-hong. They cannot allow a free agent player, acquired for a maximum of 7.2 billion won over 4+2 years, to languish starting from his second season. Even if it looks like a futile endeavor, they must trust and find a way to utilize An Chi-hong.

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