"How to throw a bat? Now it's in the past." Lotte's Hwang Sung-bin's evolution, from Bluetooth to regular
"How to throw a bat? Now it's in the past." Lotte's Hwang Sung-bin's evolution, from Bluetooth to regular
Blog Article
Lotte Giants' "Ma-Hwang" Hwang Sung-bin (28) revealed the process of overcoming the controversial "Bluetooth batting" and becoming a true main player. His growth story, which has emerged from his dangerous batting form due to his unique desperation and established himself as a top outfielder in the league, is drawing attention.먹튀검증
Hwang, who joined Lotte in the second round and fifth round of the 2020 rookie draft, finished his military service and made his debut in the first division of the 2022 season. He started off as a pinch runner and a big hitter and secured the opportunity to become a starting member, and showed promise with a batting average of 0.294, one homer, 16 RBIs and 10 steals in 102 games. In the 2023 season, however, he only posted a batting average of 0.212 in 74 games due to ankle injuries and sluggish performance.
Notably, his "Bluetooth batting" became a hot topic of discussion during this period. Having lost the sense of hitting, Hwang focused only on hitting the ball to make an in-play hit, and in the process, the bat escaped his hand, creating a dangerous scene. Criticism arose among fans as videos gathered such scenes.
"As we changed the mechanism after two strikes, there was no such scene in the 2024 season," Hwang said on a YouTube channel recently. Breaking away from hitting by matching, he showed an amazing transformation in the 2024 season.
Hwang Seong-bin, who had a chance from the beginning of the season, secured the starting position with a batting average of 0.378, three homers and 12 steals in the March-April period. Notably, his baserunning ability has also improved dramatically, with his stolen base success rate rising from 45.5 percent in 2022 and 64.3 percent in 2023 to 83.6 percent, ranking third in the league (51 steals). It was the first time in 14 years since Kim Joo-chan in 2010 that he had stolen base in Lotte's history.
Finally, he recorded a batting average of 0.320, four homers, 26 RBIs and an OPS of 0.815 in 125 games, taking the lead in escaping the team's early recession. Thanks to his performance, fans gave him a new nickname, "Hwang Sung-bin of the Devil."
Hwang Sung-bin's position as a starting player in the 2025 season has become stronger as his competitors Kim Min-seok and Choo Jae-hyun have left the team due to the recent trade with Doosan. Expectations are high on how Hwang Sung-bin, who has been reborn as a key player of the team from a player who was considered dangerous for his "Bluetooth batting", will evolve in the new season.