Former batting champion SSG Guillermo Heredia is back,메이저놀이터 as is former batting champion Doosan Yang, who returned from injury four years ago.

The race for the greatest hitter of all time. It’s just beginning.

With 34 to 38 games left for each team. The micro-competitions are about to heat up.

At the top of the leaderboard are Samsung Lions’ Koo Ja-rook and NC Dinos’ Son As-seop.

As of the 28th, Koo is the leading heater with 3.4 points. Son is right on his heels with 3 for 3 and 8.

Both players are trying to win their first ever batting titles.

Koo finished third in 2015, when he was named Rookie of the Year.

The 2023 KBO League game between the Doosan Bears and the NC Dinos was held at Jamsil Stadium on the 19th. NC’s Son As-seop celebrates after hitting a double in the third inning. Jamsil=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.08.19/
Son has been a second baseman on several occasions. The most recent was in 2020, when he was with Lotte. He finished second with a .354 average, two runs behind KIA’s Choi Hyung-woo (0.354). This time, he is determined to become a batting champion.

On the 27th, Son went 4-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs against the Changwon LG, but on the same day against the Daegu Kiwoom, Koo Ja-rook went 4-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs to secure the top spot in the batting order.

Son As-seop is strong at the plate.

Throughout the three-game weekend series against LG, he went on a multi-hit streak of three hits, then two hits, then three hits to boost his batting average. Seven of his last 10 games with hits have been multi-hit. He has 19 hits in the 10-game stretch, more than two per game. 41 multi-hit games in 103 games.

Guzau is no slouch either.

He has 36 multi-hit games in 86 games. 15 hits in his last 10 games. Has four multi-hit games.

As a leadoff hitter, Son will inevitably get more at-bats than Guzauk, who usually bats third. That could be an advantage, or a disadvantage.

The 2023 KBO League game between the Doosan Bears and Kiwoom Heroes took place at Gocheok Sky Dome on April 24. Doosan’s Yang Yang-ji hits a single in the first inning. Gocheok = Heo Sang-wook 기자wook@sportschosun.com/2023.08.24/
There’s also the Zamyong group.

Yang and Eredia are back from injury.

Yang Ji, who was placed on the disabled list with a partial tear in his side on Aug. 8, returned to action on Aug. 22 against Kiwoom. Since his return, he’s 6-for-16.

He is fourth in the league with a 3.32 RBI average. One of the best hitters in the country who can step up at any time. A dark horse in the batting title race.

Yang is the only one of the candidates with a previous batting title. He led the NC in batting average in 2019 with a 355.4 RBI. He has the final advantage in a numbers battle that requires pace.

The game between SSG and Kiwoom at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 2. Heredia celebrates after hitting a two-run double in the eighth inning. Gocheok=Jung Jae-geun Reporter cjg@sportschosun.com/2023.7.2/
Heredia, who was sidelined from the first-team roster on April 4 with a strained muscle in the front of his left thigh (iliopsoas), is expected to return against Kiwoom on April 29.

Heredia, who was originally the No. 1 hitter, was overtaken by Guzauk Son Ah-seop, who raised his batting average with a late-season surge after a brief absence.

If he finishes the season at No. 1, he will become the third outfielder to win the batting title after Hyundai Broomba in 2004 and NC Tames in 2015.