A reversal of 30 million won in annual salary, 10 hits in a career

With just 10 career hits, SSG Landers infield prospect Go Myung-joon (22) made a name for himself with a five-hit game.

The SSG Landers won the second game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League season against the KT Wiz 11-8 on Wednesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea. With this result, the team avenged the previous day’s loss and escaped from a two-game losing streak to improve to 11-8 on the season.

The key to the victory was Go Myung-joon, who started at first base in the No. 7 spot and went 5-for-5 with a home run and an RBI.

From the very first at-bat, I had a bad at-bat. In the top of the first inning, with a 2-0 lead, runners were on first and third. Park Sung-sung stole second, and a wild pitch allowed Guillermo Heredia to score from third. Sung Park advanced to third. Go Myung-joon, who was pinch-hitting for KT starter Won Sang-hyun, hit a run-scoring single to center field to start the five-hit show.

In the third inning, with the score 7-0, he came to the plate and lined a single to left off reliever Kim Young-hyun, his first multi-hit game in two weeks since March 30 against Samsung Electronics in Daegu.

In the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and the score 7-3, he lined a single to left field for his first career three-hit game. Then, with runners on first and second in the sixth inning of a 10-3 lead, he lined a single to right to set up pinch-hitter Kim Sung-hyun’s RBI single.

Go Myung-joon led off the eighth inning with a double off Son to make it 11-3, completing his five-hit game.

After the game, Ko said, “My timing at the plate was often late this season, so I tried to time my at-bats in front of the plate. I tried to time my fastballs well, and I think that led to the satisfying record of five hits as I was able to hit more pitches in front of me.”

Another key to his five-hit performance was advice from senior Han Yoo-seom. “Until the previous game, even 먹튀검증 if I got a hit in the first at-bat, I was worried about the next at-bat and felt pressure, but (Han) Yoo-seom gave me advice, saying, ‘Don’t think too much, just clear your mind and try to hit comfortably. Thanks to him, I swung confidently today, focusing only on the at-bat at hand, and the results were good,” he said.

Ko Myung-joon is a fourth-year infielder who was selected by SK with the 18th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 KBO Draft out of Segwanggo. Until last year, he had only five games and nine at-bats in the first team, but this year he caught the eye of manager Lee Sung-yong and became a key member of the first team, and while gaining experience, he had a five-hit game of a lifetime. Ko Myung-joon’s annual salary this year is 30 million won.