On the night of May 28, batters Park Byung-ho and Oh Jae-il, who were born in 1986, exchanged uniforms. With the announcement of a one-on-one trade between KT and Samsung, Park Byung-ho moved to Samsung, and Oh Jae-il, who was at Samsung, moved to KT.
Since the opening, Park Byung-ho has virtually been pushed out of the starting lineup and has been reduced to a pinch hitter, and he has told the club several times about his dissatisfaction and concern about not receiving a chance to play, and it was a trade established as a result.
Samsung, which had a thirst for a right-handed slugger, filled the center line through Park Byung-ho, and Oh Jae-il, a left-handed hitter who had not been able to cheer up at Samsung, vowed a new start in KT's new environment.
KT and Samsung will have a showdown at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Friday, just one month after that. With the opening of three consecutive weekend games, Park and Oh will face their respective former teams for the first time since their trade.
In the space of a month, both rode roller coasters.
As soon as he put on his Samsung uniform, he spread his wings as if he was wearing his own clothes. He hit his home run right away at the Daegu Kiwoom match on May 29, the first game after the trade, and hit his home run for two consecutive days at the Hanwha match from May 31 to June 1. He also had two finishing hits in the early stages, creating synergies at the centerline of the Samsung lineup. Having hit three homers and 10 RBIs in rare appearances for the KT Wiz for two months, Park had five homers and 12 hits in just 14 games for the Samsung Lions.
However, news of a home run has been cut off since the game against LG in Daegu on Tuesday. Since then, his batting average has been very low, with two hits in 28 times at bat. He has been in a downward spiral. He was excluded from the game on Tuesday. Samsung coach Park Jin-man said he would play as a starter ahead of the game against KT on Tuesday.
Oh Jae-il did not get many opportunities to play in the Samsung Lions either. After showing poor performance last season, Oh had 71 at-bats in 22 games for the past two months since the opening of the season, and only posted a batting average of 0.234 (15 hits in 64 times at bat) with three homers and eight RBIs. Ahead of this season, Oh paid attention to the extent that manager Park Jin-man considered him the most variable player, but failed to show it in the end. 안전놀이터
Oh Jae-il, who was traded, is receiving more opportunities to play in KT. He played 76 times in 26 games (13 starts) in a month. He has a batting average of 0.227 (15 hits from 66 times at bat) with three homers and nine RBIs, but he restarted his homerun in 13 games against SSG on Tuesday. "Homerun is also a home run, but I am personally satisfied with the recent good batting performance. I will meet Samsung tomorrow (on Saturday), but I think they are all on the same team. I will play with the same mindset as I always did," Oh said after the homerun.
The two teams have also been paying attention to their moves since the deal was a massive trade in which players' names shook up the entire league. Currently, the situation is quite the opposite. Samsung is currently fighting at the second place, trailing its leader, Kia, by 1.5 games, while KT is still ranking ninth, 1.5 games ahead of Kiwoom, the lowest ranking.
In their first showdown in a month since the trade deal, more attention is focusing on whether the two players will perform or not. Notably, Park Byung-ho will make his first appearance at the Suwon KT Wiz Park, where he left after greeting each other a month ago. All eyes are on him.