‘Hatani’ SSG Ha Jae-hoon finds his groove…home run explosion in 3 straight games
SSG Landers single-season saves record holder turned outfielder Ha Jae-hoon (32) has activated his home run machine for three consecutive games.
Ha hit a three-run homer off Kiwoom starter Ian McKinney with runners on first and second in the third inning of a 3-2 home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday.
With the advantage of a two-ball count, he saw a 138-kilometer-per-hour fastball in the middle of the strike zone and swung hard.
The ball left a white trail in the Incheon night sky and traveled 115 meters before landing in the left-field bleachers.
It was Ha’s sixth home run of the season.
He joined the SK Wyverns (now SSG) in 2019 after playing for the Chicago Cubs and Yakult Swallows of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), and was a backstop in his first season with a 5-3 record, 36 saves, and a 1.98 ERA.
However, after struggling with injuries, he switched to batting in 2022 and began to flourish.
Like the Korean version of Shohei Ohtani, Ha is showing off his talents on both sides of the plate.
He hit his fourth ground home run of the season and first of his career against the Jamsil Doosan Bears on April 26, and again against the Jamsil Doosan on April 27.
His game against the Incheon Kiwoom, scheduled for the 29th, was canceled due to rain, but he kept his batting touch and activated the three-run home run gun on the same day. 파워볼