“We will get some reports in about ten days.”

The professional baseball team Lotte Giants made a decision on the 2nd. Na Seung-yeop, who was establishing himself as the new cleanup hitter of the team, was sent down to the second team. Na Seung-yeop's April and May were completely opposite times.

In April, he was an irreplaceable solution for Lotte. He led the team's batting lineup to the extent that it would not be inappropriate to call him 'Seung-yeop Giants.' In the month of April, he recorded a batting average of .313 (26 hits in 83 at-bats), 5 home runs, 23 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.032. He hit 5 game-winning hits in April alone.

Na Seung-yeop, who had been placed in various batting orders including 3rd, 5th, and 6th, started as the 4th hitter in 14 consecutive games from the Doosan game on April 25 to the KT game on May 11.

However, could it be that he couldn't overcome the pressure of being the 4th hitter? Na Seung-yeop struggled to break his silence easily. The power hitting completely disappeared, and Na Seung-yeop's strength, the line drive hard-hit balls, were seldom seen. It was a series of powerless hits. In the month of May, he ended up with a batting average of .195 (16 hits in 82 at-bats), no home runs, 6 RBIs, and an OPS of .527. The game on June 1 against SSG at Sajik was decisive. With the score tied at 3-3 in the 8th inning with one out and the bases loaded, Na Seung-yeop needed to hit a ball that could at least bring the runner on third home, even if it wasn't a clutch hit. There was a final hope that he could do that. However, he completely failed to time the fastball at 149 km/h on the second pitch. It weakly went straight to the pitcher, leading to a 1-2-3 double play and failing to score. He eventually committed a wild pitch in the 9th inning, resulting in a loss, 4-3. He faced his third consecutive losing series.

Ultimately, Na Seung-yeop was removed from the first team roster. Manager Kim Tae-hyoung said, “He is completely unable to time the pitches. I told him to think about the form and timing he had when he was performing well before.” He added, “Since he is getting anxious in the first team, I told him to watch videos of when he was good while playing in the second team.”

He continued, “The first team needs results immediately, so he becomes more anxious. Nevertheless, the manager has been continuously talking about this for a month and waiting, but there was not a single sign of improvement in timing, even if it was not a perfect fit. He needs to return to his original batting rhythm, and it is better for him to do that in the second team, where immediate results are not required.”

He emphasized that even during the registration period in ten days, there would be no unconditional registration. Manager Kim explained, “We need some reports first.”

Last year, when Na Seung-yeop suffered from a severe slump early in the season, manager Kim Tae-hyoung sent him down to the second team to reassess his balance. He practiced batting until the process was properly established and results came out satisfactorily. Although he was chosen as the starting first baseman to start the season, he did not come back up immediately after ten days. After being removed from the first team on March 31 last year, Na Seung-yeop returned to the first team about a month later on April 28.

It seems that Na Seung-yeop's balance reassessment process will follow a similar flow this time as well.

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