The Young Min Lee batting award for the best high school hitter. Only one winner a year. It’s a great honor.

However, in recent years, it has lost much of its practical meaning. It”s not uncommon for the winner to not make it to the pros.

This year is no different.

The winner of the 2023 Young Min Lee Hitting Award is Park Ji-wan, a third-year infielder at Dogae High School.

He played in 15 high school baseball games this season, batting .545 (30 hits in 55 at-bats). He batted .619 (21-for-13) in the first half of the high school weekend league (Gyeongsangnam-do Region B) and .545 (22-for-12) in the second half in the same region.

When I met Park at the Korea Baseball Softball Night event on Nov. 18, he was preparing for college.

He didn’t hear his name called in the 2024 First-Year Player Draft last September. What it felt like.

“I had a hard time mentally for about a day, 바카라사이트 but the next day I realized that I’m going to try harder and go pro (later). I think I didn’t get nominated because I’m not good enough, and my goal is to work on those shortcomings and get nominated again.”

Youngmin Lee, the winner of the hitting award, is undrafted. No surprise there.

In the last five years, only one winner has gone straight to the professional ranks, last year’s winner Kim Min-seok (Lotte Giants).

From 2019 to 2023, a whopping four players did not make it. Why is this happening?

The Lee Young-min batting award is the most prestigious award in high school baseball, established in 1958. In 1959, Baek Incheon (Gyeongdong High School) and Lee Kwang-hwan (Jungang High School) won the award, 1971, Jung Hyun-bal (Gyeongbuk), 1973, Kim Il-kwon (Gunsan), 1977, Lee Man-soo (Daegu), 1980, Kim Gun-woo (Sunlin), 1981, Koo Yoon (Gyeongbuk), 1985, Kim Kyung-gyeong (Incheon), 1991, Kang Hyuk (Sinil), 2004. Choi Jeong (Yushin), 2005, Kim Hyun-soo (Shinil), 2011, Park Min-woo (Whimun), 2014, Song Sung-moon (Jangchung), 2015, Choi Won-jun (Seoul), 2016, Kim Hye-sung (Dongsan), 2017, Bae Ji-hwan (Gyeongbuk), etc.

The Lee Young-min batting award was a symbol of top prospect hitters. How did it become so difficult to get a professional nomination?

The first reason is the uniform and mechanical batting average calculation method without weighting.

Regardless of the competition, opponent, or round, the same criteria is applied.

There is no distinction between weekend league games or national tournaments. In addition, the national tournament is divided by school.

It doesn’t matter if you played them in the first round or in the final. Depending on the luck of the draw, you could face a lot of strong teams or a lot of weak teams. Batsmen from teams that were eliminated in the first round may have an advantage.

Considering the growing disparity in power between the metropolitan area and the rest of the country, players from regional teams may have a numerical advantage.

Park has played 12 of his 15 games this year in weekend leagues between Gyeongsangbuk-do B teams. He played against teams from Gyeongsangbuk-do. He only played one game each in the Shinsegae E-Mart Bae, Golden Lion, and Bonghwang Daejeon, where he can meet teams from across the country.

The second reason is the college entrance examination system.

High school players are no longer scouted by college coaches. You must go through the college entrance exam.

Grades such as batting average in high school tournaments are important for admission.

For players who are thinking of going to college, it is essential to manage stats such as batting average.

On the other hand, players who don’t plan on going to college and just want to play professionally need to showcase their strengths in front of scouts, 사설토토 even if it’s just for one game. Simply put, they can’t afford to manage their stats. If your team makes it to the finals and faces a superstar ace pitcher, it’s a great opportunity to impress. Even if you don’t get on base and your batting average drops, you can still get a pro scout’s stamp of approval if you show that you’re able to react by hitting sharp pitches against these A-list pitchers.

In the real world, pro scouts are looking for more than just stats, they’re looking for a player’s all-around ability, including athleticism, and potential for growth.

As one pro scout explained, “There’s regional variation, and national tournaments are split. If a player is lucky enough to have a good bat, they can win the Lee Young-min batting award. Players who don’t necessarily go to the pros don’t actively manage their batting average. To enter the university, stats such as batting average and home runs are important, and local teams with less competition have an advantage in managing grades to enter the university.”