“If you get hit again, you can have surgery.”
Infielder Lee Ho-yeon (28) of the KT Wiz left the Lotte Giants with Shim Jae-min in a one-on-one trade last May and wore a KT uniform.
Lee Ho-yeon, who did not play in the first team all season before coming to KT, became a lucky infielder as soon as he came to KT and showed his best performance. He appeared in 25 games and was very active with a batting average of 0.286, 22 hits, 1 home run, 10 RBIs and 7 runs scored.
On June 16, against Suwon Samsung Lions, he hit his first debut hit, and on the 18th, he made his first four-hit game in Gyeonggi-do. As a substitute for Park Kyung-soo, he played an equal role.
But the sky was also indifferent. He said that misfortune came to Lee Ho-yeon, who was doing well. On the 21st of last month, Lee Ho-yeon collapsed after being hit in the face by a foul ball he had hit at the Lotte game in Suwon. An unfortunate injury in which his left nasal bone was fractured. KT coach Lee Kang-cheol also regretted the departure of Lee Ho-yeon, who had grown into a starter.
However, Lee Ho-yeon went to rehabilitation with an indomitable will. He showed monstrous speed of recovery and appeared in a Futures League game 17 days after being injured. Lee Ho-yeon appeared in the Futures KIA match held at Iksan Stadium on the 7th. In his comeback, he went 3-for-3 with a heavy hit. KT, who was in an urgent need of a rebound, immediately put Lee Ho-yeon on the first team entry. He returned to the first team after 18 days.
After the game on the 7th, Lee Ho-yeon immediately packed up and drove up to Suwon, arriving at 1:00 am on the 8th. And on the 8th, Suwon KIA Tigers started as a starter. It was proof that Lee Ho-yeon was necessary for KT. Although the team lost, Lee Ho-yeon had a strong comeback by hitting a home run against KIA starter Mario Sanchez.
Lee Ho-yeon, who we met on the 8th, said, “I am not sick right now. But that doesn’t mean there is no pain at all,” he said. “I was upset when I first got hurt. But he wanted to come back as soon as possible. After resting at home for about three days, he joined the rehabilitation group and quickly improved his condition. He’s always good when he plays for the first team. I came with an excited heart,” he said.
Being hit in the face by a ball can cause trauma. It was natural for him to be afraid because it was the first time he had experienced such a thing.
“It was scary at first,” he said. He first got hit in the face by a ball while playing baseball. However, when he thought, ‘If I get hit, I’ll just have to operate again’, he got better. I wonder if there is anything else to do,” he laughed.안전놀이터
He continued, “If he had been worried about injuries, he wouldn’t have played baseball. Even if I get injured, I consider it my luck. He wants to leave it to heaven,” he added.
Even when he couldn’t play baseball, he continued image training and thought about baseball. In addition, coach Lee Seong-yeol’s help was a great help for Lee Ho-yeon’s quick comeback.
He said, “I thought about baseball even when I was resting. He did a lot of image training. Also, when he was in the reserve army, coach Lee Seong-yeol helped him a lot. He said he had to hit a lot, so he kept hitting,” he laughs.
Let’s look forward to the future performance of the lucky infielder from Lotte.