KT Wiz outfielder Mel Rojas Jr. (35) spoke about Ahn Hyun-min (22), who has fully realized his potential this year.
Rojas starred in the game against SSG Landers during the 2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League on April 9 at Incheon SSG Landers Field, batting 5th in right field, achieving 2 hits in 3 at-bats, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, 3 runs, and 1 walk.
After hitting multiple home runs, Rojas is currently batting .258 with 13 home runs, 42 RBIs, 44 runs, 1 stolen base, and an OPS of .801 in 81 games this season. Although his hitting pace was not good enough for him to be sent down to the second team in June, he has shown great performance after returning to the first team.
In a post-game interview, Rojas said, "I try not to think this way, but when the weather gets warmer, I forget those words and it really seems to be true that I play well. Since the weather has warmed up and after I returned from my time away, my pace has improved. I think I maintained good aspects in today's game and showed a good performance."
"I have been trying to adjust the many things that were not going well since the early part of this year," Rojas said. "It didn't show as results, but I kept working to get them in line with my physical condition and efforts to produce results," adding, "Ahn Hyun-min has helped me decisively in many areas. Thanks to that, my hitting feeling seems to have improved."
Ahn Hyun-min is dominating as the league's best hitter this season, batting .354 with 16 home runs, 53 RBIs, 42 runs, 5 stolen bases, and an OPS of 1.116 in 59 games. In this game, he excelled with 3 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 home run, 1 RBI, and 3 runs with 1 walk.
Rojas noted, "Ahn Hyun-min approached me first and suggested that we train together. It seems that training together has led to good results recently." He added, "When Ahn Hyun-min was not around in the early part of the season, there were fewer opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position. I felt the pressure to increase my RBIs, but now I can hit a little more comfortably. From the pitcher's perspective, when a strong hitter comes up with runners on base, the chance of throwing a bad pitch increases, so I definitely feel the Ahn Hyun-min effect," he said with a laugh.
Ahn Hyun-min, who has shown amazing power this season, is not only hitting many home runs but also hitting them with incredible distance. In this game, he hit a massive home run with a distance of 130 meters. Rojas, who won the league MVP after recording 47 home runs in 2020, was also astonished by Ahn Hyun-min's power.
"I think it’s hard to find a player comparable to him in Korea," Rojas said. "I also think there aren’t many players with that level of power overseas. The closest player I can remember from my past is a younger version of Park Byung-ho," he praised Ahn Hyun-min's power.
[OSEN]