Three months away… Kiwoom and AG national teams, MLB clubs, who are missing the “pillar” are also paying close attention

Kiwoom Heroes’ leading hitter Lee Jung-hoo (24) will undergo surgery and begin rehabilitation treatment for more than three months. In fact, it’s a season-out. Kiwoom and the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) national team have been hit by lightning.

The Kiwoom club said on the 24th, “Lee Jung-hoo was diagnosed with damage to his left ankle as a result of detailed examinations such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and X-ray at CM Hospital and Sejong Sports Orthopedic Surgery.” The damage to the renal zone is the damage to the membrane surrounding the tendon of the ankle. Suture surgery is necessary for treatment. Lee Jung-hoo plans to schedule surgery after an additional examination on the 25th. The club said, “Rehabilitation treatment period is about three months. “It can change depending on the speed of the player’s recovery,” he said.

Lee Jung-hoo started as the third batter and center fielder against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 22nd. He led Kiwoom’s 안전놀이터 attack with three hits and one walk until the seventh inning. However, after handling Lotte Kim Min-seok’s heavy hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, he suddenly gestured toward the dugout. He showed a limp with his left foot. After talking to the trainer for a while, he was helped out of the stadium.

Ahead of the match against Lotte the next day (23rd), Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki said, “Lee Jung-hoo is a player who rarely showed pain. He said, “I’m worried because he expressed his injury.” In the end, the foreboding of the head coach was right. It is the first time that Lee Jung-hoo has been on the operating table since his shoulder injury in November 2018.

Lee Jung-hoo is currently the No. 1 hitter in the KBO League. In the past two seasons (2021 and 2022), he became the batting champion in a row, and in the 2022 season, he ranked first in the batting average, hits, RBIs, on-base percentage, and long-hitting percentage, even winning the MVP (best player) of the regular season. He ranks first in batting average (0.340) in history

He also led the team’s offense this season. Until May, it was sluggish in the aftermath of the revision of the batting posture, but it has been in shape since June. Kiwoom, which once fell to ninth place, rebounded by ranking third out of 10 clubs (0.609) in June after Lee Jung-hoo’s batting sense revived.

Lee Jung-hoo was out of power. Considering the announced rehabilitation treatment period (3 months), it seems difficult to return within the regular season. Kiwoom’s power weakened at the end of the first half as veteran setup man Won Jong-hyun and main infielder Lim Ji-yeol were injured. Even Lee Jung-hoo, the main pillar of the team’s batting lineup, has left for a long time, making it more difficult to compete in the rankings.

The Hangzhou AG national baseball team is also on alert. Lee Jung-hoo, who was named in the final entry (24 players) announced on the 9th of last month, is also a key player in the national team. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) formed a national team with players under the age of 25 and under four years of professional participation in the Hangzhou Games. Wild cards (3 players) were also selected as younger players (Park Se-woong, Choi Won-joon, and Koo Chang-mo) than in previous tournaments.

Due to the direction of generational change, the power was inevitably weaker than the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in March. Lee Jung-hoo is the most experienced player in the national team along with Kim Hye-sung (Kiem) and Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz). National team coach Ryu Joong-il’s agony is bound to grow.

The plan to advance to the Major League Baseball is also inevitable. There is no problem in qualifying for the posting system (private competitive bidding) by completing seven seasons. Lee Jung-hoo has already earned 105 points (105 days) by participating in international competitions. Except for military service-related competitions, 70 points remained even if the number of registered days was insufficient in 2018. This season, he filled 113 days of registration before his injury.

However, injury history can adversely affect MLB contracts. It is known that the MLB club for Lee Jung-hoo has already been evaluated, but the deterioration of durability is another problem. Na Sung-beom (KIA Tigers), who sought to advance to the U.S. through the posting system, also had a history of knee injuries in 2019.

Kiwoom Heroes’ leading hitter Lee Jung-hoo (24) will undergo surgery and begin rehabilitation treatment for more than three months. In fact, it’s a season-out. Kiwoom and the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) national team have been hit by lightning. The Kiwoom club said on the 24th, “Lee Jung-hoo was diagnosed with damage to his left ankle…