After serving a 70-game suspension for drunk driving, Ha Joo-seok (29-Hanwha) made his first appearance since his suspension was lifted.
Ha started at first base in the 2023 KBO Futures League game against the Goyang Heroes at the Goyang National Baseball Training Center on Friday, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
After being hit by a pitch in his first at-bat against Kiwoom Underhand starter Noh Woon-hyun in the first inning, Ha drew a two-pitch walk to load the bases with one out in the second inning after a six-pitch, full-count battle with Noh.
In the fifth, he took advantage of Noh’s three-pitch at-bat and singled to left. In the seventh, Ha reached first base on an error on a grounder to second base, and in the ninth, after a six-pitch battle with Yang Ji-yul, he hit a two-run double to left field.
Defensively at shortstop, he recorded five ground ball outs, including one double play, and one fly ball out. After finishing her at-bat in the top of the ninth inning, she was replaced in the bottom of the ninth for defense. Hanwha won the game 8-2.
It’s been 270 days since Ha’s last official game appearance, on October 8 against the Changwon NC. It was the first practice in nine months for Ha, who hadn’t played in any unofficial practice games in the meantime.
Ha was also suspended by the KBO for 70 games after he was caught in a drunken crackdown in his home in Daejeon’s Dong-gu district on Nov. 20 last year and had his license suspended due to a blood alcohol content of 0.078 percent.
During his suspension, Ha did personal training with the Seosan Residents and spent his spare time volunteering and donating his talents. Now that his suspension is over, he is preparing to return to the first team by playing in the Futures League.
When Hanwha head coach Choi Won-ho met with the media before the game against Lotte, he said about Ha Joo-seok, “I’ll get a report from Futures coach Kim Sung-gap after the game today. We need to hear from the people who evaluate the Futures team. After that, we’ll decide the timing based on the situation here (the first team) or the shortstop situation. I can’t say right now when we’re going to move him up.”
Ha, who was drafted by Hanwha in the first round in 2012, has a .692 batting average with 48 home runs, 326 RBIs, 80 doubles and a .623 OPS in 786 games over 10 seasons in the first team. With his strong shoulders and wide defensive range, he has been Hanwha’s starting shortstop since 2016.
This year, in Ha’s absence, Hanwha gave fourth-year player Park Jung-hyun a chance at shortstop, but he didn’t live up to expectations, so all-arounder Oh Sun-jin, a free agent re-signing, struggled at the position. After Oh was sidelined with hamstring and dune buggy injuries, Lee Do-yoon took over in June and contributed to an eight-game winning streak with his Altoran-like performance in the outfield.카지노
Choi Won-ho said, “Lee Do-yoon is doing well at shortstop right now. There are no problems in defense. It’s not like he’s lost (his pace) or the team atmosphere is down and we need an event. We’ll make a decision after the second team is ready, and then look at the first team shortstop situation.”