Unlikely offensive hero Park Chan-ho helps Bears beat Giants 5-0

Stuck in a protracted hitting slump, Doosan Bears shortstop Park Chan-ho had been beating himself up for the past couple of months.

Playing on a new team after signing as a free agent last winter, Park wanted to justify his four-year, 8 billion won ($5.1 million) contract. But the 31-year-old felt as if he was, in his own words, giving opposing pitchers "free outs."

Park then broke out in a big way on Tuesday by smoking his fourth home run of the season and driving in four runs to help the Bears beat the Lotte Giants 5-0 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

The homer, Park's first since May 6, felt especially cathartic for the player hardly known for his power.

"It lifted so much weight off my shoulders," said Park, who admired his towering shot into the left field stands and tossed his bat away with abandon. "It felt amazing."

But the first half of his first season with the Bears has been anything but amazing — at least not by Park's lofty standards for himself. He was batting .303 through April, but that number dropped to .267 by the end of May. He came into Tuesday's game hitting .264, with one hit in his past 15 at-bats.

"Before I became a free agent, I thought that I would really feel content and comfortable once I signed a deal. I figured that I could just have fun playing baseball for the rest of my career," Park said. "But it's been the exact opposite. The level of stress has been unreal. I never believed some of my older teammates when they talked about these things, but they were right. I'm dealing with so much pressure that it really is hard to describe."

With four home runs, Park sits one shy of his career high. He had five dingers in 134 games in 2024 and again in 2025 while playing for the Kia Tigers.

"Even before the season began, I felt pretty confident that I would hit more than five home runs," Park said. "I trusted in the work that I put in during the offseason, but I never thought that I would get into a slump like this. It drove me crazy."

Park hit .300 twice in his 11-year career and predicted that he would not be able to reach that mark this year.

"I think that I'm too far off the pace," Park said. "But more so than hitting .300, I want to help the team win. I want to be an important piece of a winning team."

Park began the season as the Bears' primary leadoff hitter but has been all over the place this month. He has found himself hitting second, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth.

For what it is worth, Park has been most productive out of the No. 7 spot, which is where he batted Tuesday.

"I have no preference when it comes to the batting order," Park said. "Winning is the only thing that matters. No matter where I hit, I want to be able to capitalize on my chances."

Yonhap