“He saw me on the baseball field and ran over and said that’s right…”
Samsung foreign hitter Jose Pirela (34) was at the center of a defensive interference issue on the 13th against Gwangju KIA. With two outs in the top of the third inning, Pirela reacted to a changeup from Kia starter Yang Hyun-jong and hit a hard grounder, then naturally ran inside the infield fair/foul line.
The pitch was intentionally thrown to the side by Pirela, who could not see first baseman Choi Won-jun’s mitt. Choi Won-joon was also off the base and prepared to throw, but it was a bad throw. KIA requested a video replay and hoped for a defensive interference call, but it was determined to be Yang Hyun-jong’s natural throw. There was no challenge to Pirela, who played inside the infield fair/foul line.메이저사이트
While Pirela was the center of the controversy, it was the drop in production in the first half of the year compared to his breakout 2022 season that was more painful. In 79 first-half games, Pirela hit .281 with nine home runs, 50 RBI, 39 runs scored, four doubles, a .417 on-base percentage, a .325 slugging percentage, and a .742 OPS.
Pirela is a classic bad-ball hitter. He tends to bat at any pitch he sees. He has a very wide strike zone, but it’s his ability to make contact that makes him so productive. It’s not a very sophisticated style, but Pirela is also a hitter who can show average, clutch, and long ball power at the same time. He proved it last year.
In April, he hit .253 with four homers and 14 RBIs, and in May, he hit .323 with three homers and 15 RBIs. In June, he hit .264 with one home run and 15 RBIs. Hit .297 with one home run and six RBIs in nine games in July. His three-year average in the KBO is 0.307, but May was the only month of the year where he hit .307. It certainly didn’t feel like it was working.
However, in the final three games of the first half against the KIA, he went 6-for-13 with one home run, one RBI, and three runs scored. In particular, KBS N Sports commentator, a 2504-hit legend who broadcast the 12th game, diagnosed that Pirela was back to his old self. “The batting feeling is up,” he said, “the way he looks at the ball, the way he looks at the bat.
Pirela tilts his upper body back significantly and centers himself at the hitting point, delivering a powerful swing that seems to shatter his entire body. Park Yong-taek said, “When the upper body leans back, the feeling is starting to improve. If you look at a foul ball, it doesn’t feel like the upper body is greeting the front, it feels like it’s lying back.” He said that he had already told this story in the broadcasting company’s highlight program, and that Pirella gave him a positive response.
In short, after a shaky start to the season, McCann found his groove at the end of the first half. If so, we can expect a strong second half. With Samsung in last place, a crazy player has to come from somewhere. If it’s Pirela, a foreigner, Samsung can’t ask for much more. Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom), one of last year’s top two hitters, has been revitalized since the middle of the first half. In the second half, it’s time for Pirela to prove his worth.