"I've seen him since he joined the army, and he did something very big in Futures."

Hanwha Eagles coach Choi Won-ho said he has confirmed Lim Jong-chan (23) as a center fielder to enter the opening entry ahead of the exhibition game against the Doosan Bears held in Daejeon on the 19th. Veteran center fielder Kim Kang-min (42) needed a young outfielder to share the burden because it was difficult to play the season full time, but Choi decided to use Lim Jong-chan after watching the exhibition game process and results. Lee Jin-young (27), who was considered a center fielder at the spring camp, had to think of a substitute as his batting condition rose slowly, and Lim Jong-chan stood out at that time.

Lim joined the first team upon the opening of the exhibition game. He had prepared for the season in the second division until the spring camp. Right after he was discharged from the military, he had to start by improving his physical condition. Lim joined the Hanwha Eagles in 2020 with the 28th pick in the second and third rounds, and had chances in the first division every year from 020 to 2022, but he failed to fully revive the team. He recorded a total of 114 games in the first division, a batting average of 0.188 (55 hits in 292 times at bat), four homers, 26 RBIs and 16 points. He certainly had strong shoulders as an outfielder, but his body failed to keep up with his ambition as other promising players did. He joined the team as an active player during the 2022 season and cooled off once.

Choi called Im Jong-chan to the first team, as Hanwha second-tier manager Lee Dae-jin strongly recommended, "Im Jong-chan's batting is very good." Im Jong-chan clearly appealed his presence in 10 exhibition games by batting .476 (10 hits in 21 times at bat), 0.500 on-base percentage, 0.810 slugging percentage, one home run and eight RBIs.

Choi said, "In the past, I tried to hit very hard and far, losing a little bit of my body swing, and took a lot of over-swing. As I lost my body, my contact ratio also dropped. Now, however, I feel a little calm about how I changed my mind and what I fixed with my hitting coach Kang Dong-woo during the camp at Futures. My body loss has definitely decreased, and my contact ratio has become very high."

"I've seen him since hitting coach Jung Kyung-bae and I joined Lim Jong-chan. He did a very big job with the Futures team. He changed the kid who was active in a very short period of time. I didn't play a few games in a short period of time, but I'm not good at it, so what's the point of not using it?" He's a professional outfielder, and he's not a completely slow player, so if he starts, he can play until the middle and then use Kim Kang-min as a substitute if he leads by a small margin. We brought him to use (Kim) Kang-min for that mission anyway. If Kangmin goes out as a substitute, (Im) Jong-chan goes to right field, this side will also get stronger. Feraza can't even lose weight because of the attack, but he said he played both outfield corners in the U.S. When I asked him, he said it doesn't matter at all, so if he sends Feraza to left field, he can strengthen his defense so naturally. I thought that would be perfect."

Kim Kang-min intends to deploy Lim for one season while thoroughly managing his physical condition at the club level. Choi's current plan is to give Lim a chance to play in the center field by sending him to the game without getting sick.

Choi said, "Kangmin cannot play full-time. If we say that he plays about one-third of the entire season, someone has to play two-thirds, but I think Jong-chan will be better for now. He is trying to use Jong-chan because he showed short but very impactful attack. I am wondering if it will be okay for him to play until the ninth inning or if he will have a hard time after playing one game. As he gets older, fatigue builds up quickly, and muscles in his calves explode quickly, especially when he gets older. If he is too greedy, he cannot hire players for long. If he plays one game, he will have to take two days off and think like this." 토토