The scent of Ogreddy rising? '40% of trial games → No hit in 15 at-bats after opening' silence... When will the name of the 'Yankees' top prospect' be worth

The scent of Ogreddy rising? '40% of trial games → No hit in 15 at-bats after opening' silence... When will the name of the 'Yankees' top prospect' be worth

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It is still in the early stages of the season, but concerns cannot be erased. New foreign hitter Esteban Floral (28) of the Hanwha Eagles failed to report his first hit again this time.스포츠토토

In a game against the LG Twins of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, Floral started the game as the third batter and center fielder, and was silent with no hits, one walk, and one strikeout from three times at bat. After losing 0-4 with only two hits, the Hanwha Eagles gave Lim Chan-kyu (two hits, two walks and five strikeouts in nine innings), the starting pitcher of the LG Twins, to complete the game with 100 pitches.

Prior to the match, Floral forced his participation despite an injury that hit the ball to the head. However, despite his strong will, the bat failed to display strength. After his first at-bat in the top of the first inning with two outs and no runners on base, Floral hit Lim Chan-kyu's fastball to the center, but was out after hitting a fly ball to the center field.

Taking the batter's box for the second time in the top of the fourth inning with no runners on one out, Floral was struck out in vain by Lim Chan-kyu's three consecutive breaking balls (changeup, slider, changeup) and swinging, foul, and swing. As the leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh inning, Floral got on base for the first time by garnering a walk after a tenacious game of up to eight pitches. However, the next batter, Noh Si-hwan, hit a double play with a ground ball to shortstop, failing to advance further.

With no runners on with two outs in the top of the ninth inning when Hanwha was trailing 0-4, Floral entered the batter's box. He hit a changeup thrown in the middle with the ball count 1-1, but was grounded out due to Lim Chan-kyu's stellar defense. Floral ended up with the final scene of Lim Chan-kyu's first shutout victory since his debut.

Floral, who signed a total of $850,000 (down payment of $50,000 and annual salary of $700,000, incentive of $100,000) with Hanwha in December last year, drew attention with his history of being a "special prospect" of the New York Yankees, a prestigious Major League club. Floral, who joined the Yankees after signing an international amateur contract in 2015, was selected as the number one prospect in the Yankees team by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and several media outlets, including FanGraphs, in the list of prospects determined ahead of the 2019 season. With fast speed, strong power, wide defense range as a center fielder and strong shoulders, Floral was highly anticipated as a "five-tool player."

However, Floral's talent has not seen the light of day in the big leagues. Having entered the big league in 2020, he posted a batting average of 0.192 in 84 games, four homers, 22 RBIs, eight steals, and an OPS of 0.620, falling short of expectations. He was different in the Minor League. He showed off his image as a hot hitter with a batting average of 0.265 with 111 homers, 415 RBIs, 172 steals and an OPS of 0.808 in 745 games. At Triple-A in 2023, he posted a batting average of 0.284 with 28 homers, 79 RBIs, 25 steals, and an OPS of 0.945 in 101 games, and achieved 20 homers and 20 steals.

Florentine seemed to be adjusting smoothly to the KBO league by posting a batting average of 0.400 (8 hits in 20 at-bats), two RBIs, four runs scored and one stolen base of 0.985 in eight exhibition games. However, as the regular season began, the bat cooled down as if it were a lie. The only RBI was recorded by hitting a ground ball to the second base in the game against KT Wiz on Sunday. Among 73 hitters who met the regulation, only Florentine has no hit.

So far, Florentine has shown similar performances to Brian Ogreddy, who played for the Hanwha Eagles in 2023. Ogreddy, who had 15 home runs in one season in the Japanese professional baseball league, had high expectations as a hot spot outfielder. However, without recording a single home run in 22 games, he left a batting average of 0.125 (10 hits in 80 at-bats) with an eight-run OPS of 0.337 and a bitter taste.

In terms of performance in the major and minor leagues, Floral is similar to Ogreddy's. He has the ability to hit home runs and steal bases, but they both lack precision and have a high strikeout rate. Will Floral recall Ogreddy's nightmare two years ago? Or will he be able to overcome his slump in the early days of the season to become the No. 1 prospect for the Yankees.