*This content was translated by AI.
The current and former right-handed promising players, who LG Twins expected, have formed a relationship beyond 13 years. After that was Seo Geon-chang (37, Kiwoom Heroes), a KBO 201-hit legend.
Lee Jae-won met with reporters at Incheon International Airport before leaving the 2026 LG Spring Camp on the 23rd and said, "The first goal is to go to the spring camp and complete it without getting hurt. I don't want to run over the top from the start. It's natural to be motivated, but I try to play while thinking rather than trying to do more as soon as I go for the first time," he said with strength.
For LG, which is trying to win its second consecutive Korean Series title, the key player is by far Lee Jae-won. With Kim Hyun-soo (38), the MVP of this winter's Korean Series, heading to KT Wiz with a three-year, 5 billion won FA contract, Lee Jae-won was considered the right person to fill the gap.
NC Dinos manager Lee Ho-joon also showed great potential in the Futures League last year for predicting 40 home runs in Jamsil. Lee Jae-won, who served in the Armed Forces Sports Unit (Sangmu), bombed the Futures League last year with a batting average of 0.329 (91 hits in 277) with 26 home runs, 91 RBIs, 81 points, and an on-base percentage of 0.457 slugging percentage of 0.643.
LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop also promised at least 300 at-bats in 120 games, using Lee Jae-won as the designated hitter this year to focus on hitting. With such expectations, Lee Jae-won said, "Thank you so much. However, rather than paying attention to it, I try to do my best on the mission given now. If I do that, I think my grades will follow, so I try to do my best as much as possible," he said with strength.
Expectations for Lee Jae-won were not just within LG. One of them is Park Byung-ho (40), a KBO legend who retired after last season and a coach for the Kiwoom Heroes' residual forces from LG. Coach Park Byung-ho recently drew attention when he picked Lee Jae-won as the successor of the big guns at his official retirement press conference.
Coincidentally, the two have a lot in common. Park Byung-ho was a promising right-handed slugger representing LG before Lee Jae-won. Park Byung-ho joined LG as the first draft pick of the 2005 KBO Rookie of the Year and played until 2011. At LG, Park Byung-ho was a failed prospect with only 25 home runs in the first team. However, after being traded to the Nexen Heroes (current Kiwoom Heroes) in the middle of the 2011 season, he exploded his slugging power and became a legend who marked a total of 418 home runs in the KBO.
Since Park Byung-ho mentioned it himself, it was special for Lee Jae-won, who used him as a role model. Lee Jae-won said, "I was really grateful for Park Byung-ho's comment. In fact, we talked a lot even when I came to the center where I work out the day before the retirement press conference. He emphasized, "He gave me a lot of really good advice, so I want to do my best to meet the expectations of (Park) Byung-ho."
Although the KBO league is narrow, it is not easy for Lee Jae-won, born in 1999, and Park Byung-ho, born in 1986, to get close. Moreover, the two have never been in the same team before. It was Seo Geon-chang, the main character of the most hits (201 hits) in a single season of KBO players who connected the two. Seo Geon-chang was traded from Kiwoom to LG during the 2021 season and played until 2023, which overlaps with the period before Lee Jae-won joined the military.
Lee Jae-won said, "When (Seo) Geon-chang was at LG, (Park) Byeong-ho said he was a role model. At that time, Geon-chang contacted Byung-ho and exchanged numbers," he said in the back story. "I contacted you as soon as I received the number. I contacted him for about an hour at that time. I asked a lot, and I was more grateful that you knew how I felt and that the consensus was well formed," he added.
Coach Park Byung-ho, who knows the mind of the batter who uses the wide Jamsil Baseball Stadium as his home, saw through Lee Jae-won's concerns. Lee Jae-won said, "He told me not to think too much. He also said, "Read the numbers and fight the pitcher, don't be too afraid of striking out and be comfortable." I think I have a strong power of thought, so I believe in it and try to do my best," he said with strength.
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*This content was translated by AI.
