KIA Tigers’ Park Chan-ho (28) has been diagnosed with a three-week finger injury.
On the 12th, at Daegu Samsung Electronics. In the top of the fifth inning, with his team trailing 2-5, Park hit a line drive to deep left center field and made a head-first slide to first base. Samsung shortstop Lee Jae-hyun’s throw was a bit quicker, resulting in an out, and Park, who couldn’t stand up, headed to the dugout with his head down. After being replaced by pinch-hitter Lee Chang-jin in the top of the seventh inning, Park complained of pain in his left fourth finger, and a checkup the next day revealed a three-week diagnosis of ligament damage.토토사이트
Looking back at the injury process, it was triggered by the ‘Chan-ho style’. Lee Jae-hyun’s delivery was so good, but Park Chan-ho’s foot could have made a safe catch. Park’s desire to collect at least one more runner led to a head-first slide that risked injury.
Recently, Park Chan-ho has made a series of bold plays not only in the field, but also at the plate. He has been stealing bases whenever he gets the chance, which is based on his confidence as the only player in the KBO to exceed 40 stolen bases last year (42), as well as his responsibility to create scoring chances as the team’s leadoff hitter. The big action that comes with the results – hits, runs, and outs – is a bonus.
Kia head coach Kim Jong-guk knows Park’s mindset all too well. “Everyone knows how much he wants to win. If you steal a base, you have a chance to score, but if you’re out, you feel something,” he said, applauding Chan-ho’s style. After his injury, he regretted, “I told him not to slide on first base…” but also looked back and said, “I think I was in a hurry and didn’t realize it.”
KIA boasted a solid infield with the keystone combination of Park Chan-ho and Kim Sun-bin. However, the team was hit with an emergency when Kim Sun-bin, who has been nursing a nagging injury all season, and Park Chan-ho were forced to leave the starting lineup for the time being. Kim Do-young, who had settled in as a third baseman, moved to shortstop to fill the vacant spot, but this also caused anxiety in the infield at the first and third base corners. Against Gwangju Lotte on the 13th, infield utility Choi Jeong-yong was in charge of third base, but it’s hard to say that he’s more stable in terms of defense than Kim Do-young. First base can be covered by Hwang Dae-in and Oh Sun-woo in the rotation, but third base, where Kim Do-young has moved to, is a concern as there is no viable replacement other than Byun Woo-hyuk, who was expunged from the first team after the last five days.
Pimally is the injury to watch out for in the standings battle. KIA’s hole is getting bigger with the departure of Sanchez Yi-ri and then Park Chan-ho. How can the Tigers overcome this challenge as they look to hunt for fall baseball?