Correspondent Moon Dae-hyeon = Park Hyo-joon (27, Atlanta Braves), the 25th major leaguer in Korean history and the 10th as a fielder, is having a colder winter than ever before.
The US Major League Baseball (MLB) Atlanta club announced on the 6th (Korean time) that it would send Park Hyo-joon to its Triple-A team, the Gwinnett Strippers.
Earlier, on the 29th of last month, Atlanta transferred Park Hyo-joon (DFA) to secure a spot on the 40-man roster for outfielder Ellie White.
Park Hyo-joon couldn’t find a new team for a week and eventually had to accept going to the minor leagues. It is a disappointing result for Park Hyo-jun, who has endured after stepping on the big league stage in July 2021.
After graduating from Yatap High School, Park Hyo-jun moved to the United States in 2014 with the New York Yankees for a contract of 1.16 million dollars (approximately 1.1 billion won at the time).
Park Hyo-jun, who endured a long minor league life that began in 2015, achieved his dream of becoming a big leaguer with the New York Yankees in July 2021.
With the Yankees, he returned to the minor leagues with only one at-bat (first base grounder). However, the Pittsburgh Pirates later expressed interest, and Park Hyo-joon moved the team through a trade.
Pittsburgh was the land of opportunity. Park Hyo-jun, who started for the first time in the big leagues against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 2, 2021 and hit his first hit, also hit his first big league home run in a home game against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 11.
In the 2021 season, Park Hyo-jun posted a batting average of 0.195 (25 hits in 128 at-bats), 3 home runs and 14 RBIs in 45 games in the big leagues. He wasn’t exceptional, but it was a season that gave him the confidence to survive in the major leagues.
He was included in the opening roster this season and started and even recorded hits. But he wasn’t consistent. He failed to gain the team’s trust, including being demoted to the minor leagues four times during the season.
Park Hyo-joon, who had a batting average of 0.216 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs in 23 games, was DFA in Pittsburgh after the season.
Afterwards, he wanted to find stability by relocating to the Boston Red Sox through the trade with minor league pitcher Inmer Lobo, but Boston also recruited pitcher Kenley Jansen and excluded Park Hyo-joon from the 40-man roster.
Shortly after, Park Hyo-joon, who was called up by Atlanta, experienced his third DFA, failing to make the 40-man roster again this time.
The Taegeuk mark, which had been a long-held dream, became a waste as it continued to fail to establish itself despite all the efforts.
Park Hyo-jun was previously listed on the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) interest list of 50 people, but was omitted from the final 30-man entry announced on the 4th. His goal of matching his breath with Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres), who was one year senior at Yatap High School, in the national team was also shattered. Explaining Park Hyo-joon’s elimination, Cho Beom
-hyeon, technical chairman of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), said, “Since there is no team, we decided to use a domestic player.”
With bread soaked in tears, we will have a re-challenge in the minor leagues.
It is obviously not a positive situation, but it is not hopeless. Although it was released in succession, it should be noted that Boston and Atlanta paid the price and took Park Hyo-jun. Two All of the teams were looking for Park Hyo-jun when there was a void in the infield. 스포츠토토
Park Hyo-jun has quick feet and versatile defense apart from his disappointing batting ability. If he can increase his offensive power in the future, he can get a chance in the big leagues like he did in Pittsburgh. It is evaluated that there is
An official familiar with the MLB situation said, “Park Hyo-joon is a player with enough ability. In Korea, there is a negative perception of the situation of being traded or DFA, but it is common in the United States.” If I make a good performance and show my skills during the season, I will be able to get a chance in the big leagues again.”