NC Dinos sent out a decent foreign hitter who was also selected as a KBO All-Star this year. How will you utilize the new foreign players?
On the 9th, NC announced that it had recruited outfielder Jason Martin (27) as a new foreign hitter for the 2023 season. Martin agreed to a total of $1 million (180,000 down payment, 720,000 annual salary, 100,000 options).
Martin, a right-handed and left-handed outfielder, is a player with long hitting power despite his rather small body of 175cm and 83kg. NC added an explanation saying, “He is a player with good forward thinking and excellent contact ability and power.” In fact, he hit 32 home runs at Triple-A this year, winning the Pacific Coast League home run king.
Also, although his stealing attempts have decreased a lot recently, he has feet capable of stealing double digits in one season. There is also the advantage of being able to digest all positions in the outfield, including center fielder. Baseball America, an American media, said, “Although he has a weakness for breaking balls due to his leg kick, he is a player who can hit batting averages between 0.270 and 0.280.”
In NC, Park Kun-woo (32) and Son Ah-seop (34), two national players, already occupy two positions in the outfield. With the addition of Martin, they are looking forward to forming a top-tier outfield team in the league.
In particular, it is positive that he can share play time with Park Gun-woo in center field. Park Gun-woo played the most innings (621) as a center fielder in four years despite missing nearly a month due to injury this year. Of course, there is bound to be a physical burden. General Manager Lim also said, “I think Park Gun-woo and Martin can share the time in center field in terms of stamina arrangement.”
The joining of Martin, who has excellent power, is expected to help NC, which has lost its resources for the second consecutive year. At the end of last year, NC broke up with Na Seong-beom (33, KIA) and Aaron Altair (33). The two players were players who recorded a total of 65 home runs in the 2021 season. After the end of the 2022 season, even Yang Eui-ji (35), who hit 103 home runs in NC for 4 years, returned to her hometown Doosan Bears.
The club couldn’t help but care about it. Lim Seon-nam, NC general manager, admitted to Star News, saying, “It is not unrelated to (the situation where the giant cannon was leaked).”
However, the one thing that didn’t change this year following last year was ‘the best player’. Director Lim explained, “I tried to find the best hitter at that moment,” and “the principle is always the same, and the market situation changes.” He continued, “I decided on Martin because I had the condition that it would be nice to have an additional long hit and that it would be nice to be able to see center fielders as well.”
It was the same last year when Nick Martini (32) was brought in. After Altair left, NC unexpectedly recruited Martini, who specializes in contact and pioneering. Although he lacked a pioneering mind, he was a different type from Altair, who had excellent power and good athleticism.
Although he had to adapt at the beginning of the season, Martini posted a batting average of 0.296, 16 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases with an OPS of 0.826 in 139 games this year. He also participated in the All-Star Game on the recommendation of the manager, and filled the gap by going back and forth between first baseman and corner outfielder. In particular, when Roh Jin-hyeok (33, Lotte) and Park Min-woo (29) failed to get on track, they struggled in the top batting order. 안전놀이터
But Martini lacked ‘impact’. In the end, NC chose to break up by excluding Martini from the reserve list, and brought in a new player named Martin. Will NC’s choice between Geopo → Contact → Geopo succeed again this time?