Jonathan Peraza (26), a foreign hitter of the Hanwha Eagles who was expected to be the best luck of all time, finished the 2024 season with the worst finish.스포츠토토

Peraza played as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of a home game against the NC Dinos of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Sunday, and had one strikeout from one at-bats. Hanwha lost its second straight game and fell to eighth place.

Peraza, who failed to make the starting lineup, appeared at the batter's box with Jang Kyu-hyun as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning when Hanwha was trailing 2-7. Peraza, who only watched the fastball come in three consecutive pitches, came in the middle of the fourth pitch, but he failed to respond and turned around after striking out the rookie. The futility felt even greater as it was the last at-bat in the KBO League.

Peraza, who challenged Hanwha to the Korean stage in November last year by signing a contract worth a total of 1 million dollars (down payment of 200,000 dollars, annual salary of 600,000 dollars, option of 200,000 dollars, etc.), demonstrated his "crazy presence" at the beginning of the 2024 season. He led Hanwha to seven consecutive wins with a batting average of 0.517 with four homers, seven RBIs and an OPS of 1.617 in eight games in March.

Some said that the way he swings the ball with a formidable bat speed reminds him of Eric Thames (former NC Dinos), who is considered the best foreigner in the KBO League history. Thanks to this performance, some Hanwha fans said at the beginning of the season that Peraza's "copyright should be taken away."

After slowing down with a batting average of 0.250 with 18 RBIs and an OPS of 0.802 in 23 games in April, Peraza rebounded with a batting average of 0.341 with six homers and 17 RBIs in May with an OPS of 1.059. Until May, the league devastated the league to the extent that he ranked second in homers in the league, with a slugging percentage (0.614) and No. 1 in the OPS (1.021).

However, Peraza, who was doing well, was hampered by injuries. On May 31, while handling a hit against the fence, he collapsed and was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Although he was found to be okay after the examination, he began to decline with a batting average of 0.259 with one homer, four RBIs and an OPS of 0.762 in eight games in June.

Peraza, who seemed to regain his batting instinct by winning the runner-up prize at the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, showed sluggish performance with a batting average of 0.241 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and an OPS of 0.690, in 19 games in July. He once hit three home runs in August, showing signs of rebounding slightly with a batting average of 0.264 with five home runs and eight RBIs with an OPS of 0.807, but hit the bottom with a batting average of 0.146 with one home run and five RBIs with an OPS of 0.489 in 18 games in September.

Similar to Hanwha's trend, Peraza ended the season with a batting average of 0.275 with 24 home runs, 70 RBIs and an OPS of 0.850 in 122 games. Among seven foreign hitters who filled the regular at-bats without replacement this year, he ranked the lowest in most indicators including batting average, RBIs, runs scored, slugging percentage and OPS.

The possibility of renewing his contract has also become unclear as he failed to regain his batting sense before the injury. Major negative factors are defense capability that is too unstable to trust and entrust a spot in the outfield, and that he failed to boost the batting pace even after some time has passed since the injury.

However, considering that he was born in 1998 and still has growth potential and that the aftereffects of injuries have caused his performance to decline, there is room for him to expect a rebound next season. Attention is focusing on what Hanwha, which has been struggling with foreign hitters in recent seasons, will conclude about Peraza's future.