"As expected." How can Lee Seungyeop go this far! "A two-person foreign system." The 巨 head coach also has high expectations

*This content was translated by AI.

What will 2026 look like for former Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop (50), the "hero of Korean baseball." While the official coach of the Yomiuri Giants, a prestigious Japanese professional baseball (NPB) club and former team, has been confirmed to join the team, the head coach expressed expectations.

Japanese media Tokyo Sports and Sports Hochi reported on the 3rd that "Abe Shinnosuke (47), head coach of the Yomiuri Giants, expressed expectations for a foreign coach combination."

Here, the foreign coaching duo refers to coach Lee Seung-yeop and coach Zelus Wheeler (39) of the U.S.

Sports Hochi said, "Coach Abe expected coach Lee and coach Wheeler to take over the first-team batting guidance," adding, "He expressed his feelings about establishing an unusual two-man foreign coach system." Daily Sports also added, "We expected to create synergy in terms of offense."

According to reports, Abe said, "I really have confidence in the two coaches. I hope you will work hard for young players and as a coach who can give good counseling."

Coach Abe said, "I'm glad that coach Lee came. Since his active days, coach Lee has been a practice bug," he said, adding, "I want young players to learn various things."

Meanwhile, Yomiuri finished the regular season in third place in the Central League with 70 wins and 69 losses in the 2025 season. Then, in the Climax Series, he met the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and suffered back-to-back defeats. After the end of last year's season, Yomiuri invited Lee to be the temporary coach for fall camp.

Lee made his professional debut in 1995 in the Samsung Lions uniform after attending Gyeongsang Middle School and Gyeongbuk High School. He hit .302 with 467 homers and 1498 RBIs in 1,096 games. When he was active, he won the MVP and home run king five times, respectively, and the Golden Glove 10 times. In Japanese professional baseball, he played for eight years from 2004 to 2011 and experienced two Japanese Series championships. He hit 626 home runs in his career between Korea and Japan.

In addition, he earned the title of "national batter" by leading achievements such as one Olympic gold medal (2008), one bronze medal (2000), one Asian Games gold medal (2002), and third place in the World Baseball Classic (2006). After retirement, he has expanded his knowledge as a KBO League commentator and is striving to establish a grassroots baseball culture by operating the Lee Seung-yeop Baseball Scholarship Foundation.

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*This content was translated by AI.