Inseong, who cried Kim Do-young, to the 2.6 billion FA jackpot...Koo Ja-wook and Kang Min-ho also couldn't lose Ryu Ji-hyuk
Dec 16, 2024
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Samsung Lions infielder Ryu Ji-hyuk (30) blossomed properly 14 years after his professional debut. Samsung announced on the 16th that it signed a contract with internal FA Ryu Ji-hyuk for a total of 2.6 billion won, including a four-year contract period, 300 million won in down payment, 1.7 billion won in annual salary, and 600 million won in incentives. He is a super utility that enables all infield positions and has a very high defensive value, but he would not have imagined that he would hit the FA jackpot with a guaranteed amount of 2 billion won until he passed through the KIA Tigers and Samsung in a trade.
Ryu Ji-hyuk graduated from Chungam High School and was nominated by Doosan in the fourth round of the rookie draft in 2012 and began his professional career. Since he was a rookie, he has attracted attention with his solid infield defense, and after completing his military service at Sangmu early, he began his backup career in 2016, when he was in his fourth year as a professional, and was able to increase his chances for the first team. However, he was not consistent in hitting, so he could not easily cross the boundary between the backup and the main player.
Ryu Ji-hyuk faced a turning point in his baseball life as he was traded to KIA during the 2020 season. During his three seasons with KIA, Ryu Ji-hyuk had 290 games, a batting average of 0.275 (252 hits in 916 at-bats), an OPS of 0.703 and 100 RBIs. Ryu Ji-hyuk rose one step further as the main player in three years, and at the same time, he was recognized personally by leading KIA's young players as a middle-aged player. This is why Kim Do-young, who has now established himself as KIA's leading hitter, even shed tears when Ryu Ji-hyuk was traded to Samsung during the 2023 season.
When Ryu Ji-hyuk came to the FA market a year and five months after moving to Samsung, he became indispensable to his colleagues. Immediately after signing the FA contract, Ryu Ji-hyuk was blocked by Ja-wook and Min-ho. I told him to keep doing it together, that it was necessary, that he shouldn't go anywhereThanks to his colleagues, he said he gave up the idea of leaving for another team.
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Ryu Ji-hyuk said "I think it's important to show your skills on the baseball field, but I think it's also important to be external. That's what kind of face I'm going to make. I care about that, but I don't think I lived a futile baseball life because I saw it. I think we need to do better in the future" used to say.
Ryu Ji-hyuk tries to play baseball here, which he couldn't do at KIA when he moved to Samsung last year. I want to be closer to my juniors and become a comfortable senior and play baseball like that"There is a player who stands out by taking one place, and the team needs a player like me (all-weather) to work." I think players like me can stand out," he said emphatically. Ryu Ji-hyuk had a batting average of 0.263 (141 hits in 537 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.654 and 64 RBIs in 166 games in two seasons, and got a chance to play his baseball for Samsung for the next four years.
Ryu Ji-hyuk, who hit the FA jackpot, said "I still can't forget that I lost the Korean Series until now. (The goal is) to win no matter what. I'm so happy to be left at Samsung, and I'm so grateful to the fans. Please continue to support us and come to the baseball stadium and watch us play at Lion's Park"I expressed my appreciation.
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rina1130@sportschosun.com
