“I want to make my presence felt in Japan” KBO home run king Noh Si-hwan gets chance to make a name for himself at Tokyo Dome
The KBO’s home run king is coming to Tokyo Dome. Noh Shi-hwan (23, South Korea) has a chance to make his name known in Japan.
Noh’s name has already come up once in Tokyo, Japan. “Our No. 4 hitter is Noh Shi-hwan,” Ryu Joong-il, the manager of the Korean team at the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), declared at a joint press conference of the four participating countries in Tokyo on March 24.
Ryu, who used Noh as the No. 4 먹튀검증토토사이트 hitter in four of his six games at the Hangzhou Asian Games last month, said, “If you’re a No. 4 hitter, you have to do a good job when it matters.
He has the ability to hit something big when he gets the chance. He was the home run king this year and has a lot of long balls. I hope he can do the same in this tournament.”
In 131 games this year, Noh batted .298 (153-for-514) with 31 home runs, 101 RBI, 74 doubles, 118 walks, a .388 on-base percentage, a .541 slugging percentage and a .929 OPS.
Was the league’s only 30-homer hitter and won two home run and RBI titles. He finished second in the KBO in on-base percentage and OPS, showing his potential as one of the league’s most dominant hitters.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games,
His first senior national team, he batted 4-for-16 with seven doubles, six RBIs, eight walks and a 1.140 OPS in six games.
While he didn’t hit a home run, he had two doubles and two sacrifice flies, including a leadoff sacrifice fly in the sixth inning against Japan in the Super Round that set the stage for the gold medal game, followed by an RBI single in the eighth inning to lead South Korea to a 2-0 victory.
Noh, who took a break after the regular season ended on March 16 to work out privately in Daejeon in preparation for the national team’s call-up on May 5, said, “I came to the Asian Games with a gold medal, which was my goal.
The teamwork was really good, and captain (Kim) Hye Sung-hyung’s leadership brought the players together.
I think Hye Sung-hyung will probably captain the team at the APBC as well. I think we can continue the momentum of the gold medal because most of the members from the Asian Games will be there. We have a lot of strong athletes. If we rely on each other, we will be able to win.”
The team is composed of young players aged 24 or younger or in their second year in the program, with 17 of the 26 players being members of the Asian Games gold medal team.
No. 4 Noh Si-hwan is the centerpiece of a generational shift under Ryu Joong-il.
In response to Ryu’s expectations, Noh said, “I will take responsibility and do my best. I have to prove myself to continue to be called the national team’s No. 4 batsman. I want to show it in this tournament,” he said.
All APBC games will be played at the Tokyo Dome
The heart of Japanese baseball. The Tokyo Dome has a long home-fence distance of 100 meters on each side and 122 meters in the center, but it is shorter at 110 meters in the middle, and there is an updraft in the stadium because the roof is floated by the difference in air pressure inside and outside.
This creates a favorable environment for home run hitters, as balls have a tendency to extend well.
We can’t help but be excited about Noh’s bat.
However, his opponents will be tough. While the Japanese social (unemployed) baseball players he faced at the Asian Games weren’t easy, the APBC is a step up from that, as it features the top prospects in Japanese professional baseball.
If Noh can live up to his KBO home run record here, he could make a name for himself in Japan and beyond.
In the inaugural APBC in 2017,
Kim Ha-seong (San Diego), batting fourth, made a strong impression against Japan in the preliminary round, going 2-for-5 with a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning off Kazuki Yabuta, who won 15 games that year.
Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom) also hit a game-winning triple off opposing ace Chun Kwan-yu in the sixth inning against Taiwan in that qualifier, a shot off the right-field fence to give South Korea a 1-0 win, prompting the Japanese media to invoke the name of his father, Lee Jong-beom (LG coach).
Now, Kim Ha-seong is thriving in the major leagues, and Lee Jung-hoo is preparing to enter the big leagues next year. For Noh, who dreams of becoming a big leaguer in the future, the APBC is an opportunity to increase his value and presence.
“I think it’s a chance to make my presence known against strong teams like Japan, Australia, and Taiwan. I want to perform well and make myself memorable enough to be recognized not only in Korea but also in other countries.”