Noh Si-hwan, a fifth-year slugger for 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 runs (30), RBI (90), slugging percentage (.563), and OPS (.950). In the game against LG on the 2nd, he broke his nine number and hit a home run for the first time in 8 games, becoming the first player to hit 30 home runs in his debut.
Even if this season ends right now, Noh Si-hwan’s performance is good enough to aim for the regular season MVP. In the history of professional baseball, there have been as many as 17 cases in which a player who won both the home run and RBI titles in a season also won MVP. This shows the high symbolic importance of the home run and RBI title, which can be called the ‘flower of batting.’
The last time a Hanwha player became MVP was Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto) in 2006, 16 years ago. At that time, Ryu Hyun-jin swept the titles for most wins, ERA, and strikeouts, and swept the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards at the same time. In the past, there are only three MVPs from Hanwha: Jong-Hoon Jang (1991-1992), Dae-Sung Koo (1996), and Hyun-Jin Ryu. If we limit ourselves to batsmen, Noh Si-Hwan is taking on his first challenge in 31 years. In addition, the home run king from Hanwha is also aiming for the title for the first time in 15 years since Kim Tae-gyun in 2008. This is why Hanwha fans, who are tired of the rebuilding that has continued for a long time, find comfort and pride by looking at Noh Si-hwan.
Noh Si-hwan is aiming for MVP, and his individual performance is good…
However, despite these excellent results, Noh Si-hwan is not yet in a situation where he can easily be sure of being MVP. This is not because of Noh Si-hwan’s personal problem, but because the surrounding circumstances outside of the game are not supporting it.
The biggest obstacle to Noh Si-hwan’s rise to MVP status is the team’s performance. As of the 4th, Hanwha is in last place with 44 wins, 6 draws, and 61 losses (winning percentage .419). At one point, they rose to 8th place, which was not far from the top 5, raising hopes for getting out of last place and playing fall baseball for the first time in a long time, but they fell into a quagmire of 8 consecutive losses starting in late August and became Amitabha Buddha.
Although they regained some momentum with two consecutive wins over the weekend, the gap with the top five has already widened to 11.5 games, effectively ending fall baseball this year as well. We are in a situation where we must protect our pride in the competition with Kiwoom-Samsung to get out of last place for the rest of the season. If Hanwha ranks last again this year, it will be the fourth consecutive year since 2020, and it will surpass the Lotte Giants (9 times) and become the protagonist of the dishonorable record of being the most last place in professional baseball history – the first double-digit last place (10 times).
Even considering the recent atmosphere of placing greater emphasis on individual value, the team performance premium in team sports still cannot be ignored. In the history of professional baseball, there are only two MVPs produced by teams that failed to advance to the fall baseball season: Son Min-han (Lotte) in 2005 and Park Byeong-ho (Heroes at the time) in 2012. The case where the MVP was produced from the lowest ranking team was Park Byeong-ho, who was ranked 6th in the 8-team system at the time, and since the 10-team system was established, all MVPs have come from teams ranked in the top 5 or higher.
Based on the current rankings, Noh Si-hwan is challenging the record of being the first ‘MVP from a last-place team’ in history. Also, considering the current standings, it is unlikely that Hanwha will rebound higher than 7th place in the remaining games, so if Noh Si-hwan wins the award, it is highly likely that it will be a new record for the lowest-ranked team in history to produce an MVP, even if it is not necessarily last.
Before Noh Si-hwan, the last player from Hanwha to be nominated for MVP was Kim Tae-gyun. In 2012, he ranked first in batting average and on-base percentage, and in 2016, he broke personal career highs in on-base percentage and batting average (.365), but was pushed out by Park Byeong-ho and Dustin Nippert, respectively, and ranked 5th and 3rd in MVP voting. At the time, Hanwha’s team rankings were only 10th and 7th, respectively, and Kim Tae-gyun’s performance was undervalued.메이저사이트
The presence of a strong competitor named Eric Peddie (NC) is also a burden for Noh Si-hwan. Peddy is currently ranked 1st in most wins (16 wins) and 2nd in ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (149), and his team performance is also better than Noh Si-hwan’s as he ranks 5th in the fall baseball league. Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom), who was one of the strong competitors in terms of strikeouts and ERA, was recently out for the season due to injury, raising the possibility of a comeback for Peddie, making it possible for him to win the triple crown.
In the history of professional baseball, there have been as many as 10 cases in which a player failed to win MVP despite winning both the home run and RBI titles. For example, Park Byung-ho exceeded 50 home runs and 120 RBIs for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015, but was pushed behind Seo Geon-chang (200 hits, 3 batting wins) and Eric Thames (40 home runs, 40 stolen bases, 4 batting wins), respectively. However, in the case of Peddy, Noh Si-hwan’s strongest competitor this season, the challenge of 20 wins and an ERA in the 1-point range has become virtually difficult due to his recent slump, so in terms of impact, Noh Si-hwan is unlikely to be pushed back much.
However, Noh Si-hwan’s individual titles in the home run and RBI categories have not yet been confirmed. As Noh Si-hwan has been selected to the national team for the Asian Games, he must respond to the call-up from the 22nd. The Asian Games baseball games begin on October 1 and the finals are held on October 7, but taking into account the return home and rest days, it appears that players will not be able to play in their team’s games again until the 10th of next month at the earliest. If you have physical problems or are injured, your return may be delayed. If this happens, Noh Si-hwan could lose about 15 games or more, and if he is unlucky, he could actually be out of the season.
Currently, the second place in home runs and slugging percentage is SSG Choi Jeong (25, .549), and the gap with Noh Si-hwan is 5, or .014. In the RBI category, LG Austin (81) is 9 behind. There is still room, but if Noh Si-hwan cannot widen the gap further before being selected for the Asian Games, we cannot rest assured. Since home runs and RBI, excluding slugging percentage, are cumulative records, they are more advantageous to Choi Jeong and Austin, who can maintain their sense by playing more games.
In the end, in order for Noh Si-hwan to meet the conditions of MVP first place, he must widen the gap with the second place as much as possible before being selected for the Asian Games and receive support from those around him, such as Peddie’s sluggish performance and Hanwha’s elimination from last place. It is also very important to achieve impactful records such as a maximum of 40 home runs or more than .300, 30 home runs, and 100 RBI. For Hanwha fans, who are far from advancing to the fall baseball league this season, Noh Si-hwan’s challenge as an MVP candidate from Hanwha, who has appeared for the first time in a long time, is like the last hope that will make them not give up and support the season until the end.