Surging Eagles slugger Roh Si-hwan attributes hot streak to confidence

Roh Si-hwan of the Hanwha Eagles, left, celebrates with teammate Kang Baek-ho after hitting a grand slam against the Kiwoom Heroes during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Does confidence breed success or is it the other way around?

Roh Si-hwan, the surging slugger for the Hanwha Eagles, says the former has been the case for him lately.

Baseball is such a humbling game that even a player with Roh's track record — a pair of 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons and a runner-up finish in MVP voting in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) — can battle confidence issues. The 25-year-old did so when he managed only eight hits in his first 13 games of this season, with zero homers and just three RBIs. The Eagles sent him down to the minor league on April 13.

Roh went deep in his first game back with the Eagles on April 23. And he has been on a tear since the start of May, batting .364 in 10 games with six home runs and 15 RBIs — both of them the highest totals in the KBO this month.

Roh continued his hot streak Tuesday night by hitting his third career grand slam to help the Eagles to an 11-5 win over the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

"I think confidence has been the biggest factor for me," Roh said afterward. "When I am struggling, I can get really down on myself at the plate. I start having too many thoughts and start fighting myself instead of the pitcher on the mound. But right now, I am only thinking about facing the pitcher and nothing else. That has been a huge difference."

In the KBO home run race, Roh has gone from a non-factor to a name to watch over the past couple of weeks. With his seven home runs, Roh is tied for seventh, five back of Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers.

Roh insisted he hadn't been trying to hit home runs and his focus had been on making hard contact every time.

"I want to keep my swing simple and drive the ball. That's why I've been hitting so many home runs," Roh said, before adding with a grin, "I want to have the feeling of floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee."

Roh started the season as the Eagles' primary cleanup hitter and returned to the same spot following his minor league stint. But he was moved down to the No. 5 spot at the start of May, trading places with Kang Baek-ho.

Roh said his new place in the lineup suits him just fine, with Kang getting on base frequently to give Roh plenty of RBI opportunities while also contributing four homers and 11 RBIs himself.

Kang is batting .500 this month, with four three-hit games during his 10-game hitting streak.

"Baek-ho has been swinging the bat so well, and pitchers aren't going to give him much to hit. So he draws a lot of walks, and that gives me chances to drive in runs," Roh said. "I am just so grateful for all the great work he's done in front of me."

Roh broke into a smile and added: "I used to have this pride of being the cleanup hitter. But I'm finding out batting fifth is pretty good, too. We're both hitting well, and I don't see why we should change our lineup."

Roh also said the Eagles as a team won't have to make any drastic changes, although the 2025 Korean Series runners-up have been disappointing so far.

Tuesday's win gave the Eagles their season-high three-game winning streak, but they are still just 17-20-0 (wins-losses-ties), tied with the Kia Tigers for sixth place. They have dealt with injuries up and down the roster, with both of their foreign starters, Wilkel Hernandez and Owen White, hitting the sidelines, while closer Kim Seo-hyeon has had control issues all season.

But with the KBO's best offense over the past 10 games — to the tune of 86 runs and 21 dingers — Roh said the Eagles will only get better from here.

"Honestly, I think we're playing well, and if we keep this up, we will be in a pretty good spot," Roh said. "I honestly don't think we have to improve anywhere. If our pitchers do their thing and our hitters keep hitting like this, we will win eight or nine games in a row. And then we will find ourselves way up in the standings."