Noh Si-hwan, a fifth-year big hitter with the Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball, has grown into one of the best players in the league this season. As of September 4, he is proudly leading the league in four categories: home run (30), RBI (90), slugging percentage (.563) and OPS (.950). In the game against LG on the 2nd, he broke the ninth and hit a home run in eight games to reach his first 30 home runs since his debut. 토토사이트
Even if the season ends right now, Roh’s performance is sufficient to seek MVP in the regular season. In the history of professional baseball, there have been 17 cases in which a player who won both home runs and RBIs in a season has won MVPs. It shows that the symbolic proportion of the home run-run title, which can be called the “flower of hitting,” is high.
It was 16 years ago when Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto) was last named MVP in 2006. At that time, Ryu Hyun-jin swept the title of multiple wins, ERA, and strikeout, and won the Rookie of the Year and MVP at the same time. There are only three MVPs from Hanwha in history, including Jang Jong-hoon (1991-1992), Koo Dae-sung (1996) and Ryu Hyun-jin, and Noh Si-hwan is the first challenge in 31 years if limited to hitters. In addition, Hanwha’s home run king is aiming for the title for the first time in 15 years since Kim Tae-kyun in 2008. This is why Hanwha fans, tired of the long-running rebuilding, get comfort and pride from watching Noh Si-hwan.
However, despite his outstanding performance, Noh is not yet sure of being the MVP. This is not because of Roh Si-hwan’s individual problem, but because the situation outside the game is not supporting.
The biggest obstacle to Noh Si-hwan’s rise to MVP is his team performance. As of the 4th, Hanwha is at the bottom with 44 wins, six draws and 61 losses (winning rate of .419). At one point, he rose to eighth place, which is not far apart from the top five, raising hopes for the first time in a long time and autumn baseball, but since late August, he has fallen into a quagmire of eight consecutive losses and has become a road rage.
Although he recovered the atmosphere somewhat by winning two consecutive games on the weekend, the gap with the top five has already widened by 11.5 games, and in fact, the fall baseball has passed this year. For the rest of the season, he has to keep his last pride in the last place competition with Kiwoom-Samsung. If Hanwha ranks the lowest again this year, it will be the fourth consecutive year from 2020 and the main character of the disgraceful record of the most last place in professional baseball history and the first double-digit last place (10 times).
In recent years, even considering the atmosphere of placing more importance on individual values, the team performance premium in team sports is still not negligible. Only two MVPs were produced from teams that failed to advance to at least the fall baseball in the past professional baseball, Son Min-han (Lotte) in 2005 and Park Byung-ho (Heroes at the time) in 2012. The MVP of the lowest-ranked team was Park Byung-ho, who was sixth in the eight-club system at the time, and since the ten-club system was established, MVPs have been made in all teams above the top five.
Based on the current ranking, Noh Si-hwan is challenging the real record of the birth of the first-ever “MVP from the last-place team.” Also, considering the current ride, Hanwha is unlikely to rebound more than 7th in the remaining games, if Noh Si-hwan wins, it is likely to be a new record for producing MVPs in the lowest-ranked team ever, even if he is not necessarily last.
Before Noh Si-hwan, Kim Tae-kyun was the last player from Hanwha to be nominated for MVP. In 2012, he ranked first in batting average and on-base percentage, and in 2016, he also broke the first in on-base percentage and his personal career high (.365), but he ranked fifth and third in MVP voting, behind Park Byung-ho and Dustin Nippert, respectively. At that time, Hanwha’s team ranking was also ranked 10th and 7th, respectively, and Kim Tae-kyun’s performance was undervalued.
The existence of a strong competitor named Eric Pedi (NC) is also a burden for Noh. Peddy is currently ranked first in the category of most wins (16 wins), and second in the ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (149), and his team performance is also fifth, which is a ticket to the fall baseball league, which is advantageous over Noh Si-hwan. Ahn Woo-jin (Kium), one of the leading competitors in strikeouts and ERA, was recently out of the season due to injury, raising the possibility of Pedi turning the tables, making it possible to win the maximum triple crown (triple crown).
In the history of professional baseball, there have been as many as 10 cases in which he failed to win the MVP award even after winning both home runs and RBIs. Representatively, Park Byung-ho exceeded 50 home runs + 120 RBIs for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015, but he was behind Seo Geon-chang (200 hits + three hits) and Eric Thames (40 home runs – 40 steals, four hits). However, in the case of Pedi, Roh’s most likely competitor this season, Noh is not far behind in terms of impact as the recent slump has virtually made it difficult to “challenge 20 wins and average earned run in the 1-point range.”
However, Noh Si-hwan has not yet confirmed his personal titles in the home run and RBI categories. As Noh Si-hwan has been transferred to the Asian Games national team, he has to comply with the call-up from the 22nd. The Asian Games baseball games will begin on October 1st and the finals will be held on October 7th, and considering the return and rest days, it is expected that he will be able to play again from the 10th of next month at the earliest. If you have physical problems or injuries, your return can be delayed further. In this case, Noh Si-hwan can lose more than 15 games, and if he doesn’t have luck, he can actually be out of the season.
Currently, SSG Choi Jeong (25, .549) ranks second in home runs and slugging percentage, with a gap of five versus Noh Si-hwan of .014. LG Austin (81) has a gap of nine RBIs. There is still room, but if Noh Si-hwan fails to widen the gap before the Asian Games, he cannot be relieved. Since home runs and RBIs, excluding slugging percentages, are cumulative records, it is more advantageous for Choi Jung and Austin, who can go to the game and maintain their senses steadily.
In the end, in order for Noh Si-hwan to meet the conditions of the No. 1 MVP, the gap with the second place should be widened as much as possible before the Asian Games, and help from around him, such as Pedi’s sluggish performance and Hanwha’s last place, should be supported. It is also very important to achieve an impactful record such as a maximum of 40 home runs or 30-30 home runs-100 RBIs. Noh Si-hwan’s challenge as an MVP candidate from Hanwha, who has appeared for the first time in a really long time for Hanwha fans who have lost their way to the fall baseball this season, is like the last hope to make them cheer for the season without giving up until the end.