*This content was translated by AI.
The Lotte Giants, who are so confident in their internal resources that even "the only FA" Son Ah-seop (38) does not consider, will leave the spring camp with one rookie in 2026.
Lotte left for Tainan, Taiwan, where the 2026 spring camp will be held, through Gimhae International Airport on the evening of the 25th. A total of 41 players, including 20 pitchers, five catchers, nine infielders and seven outfielders, will participate in the camp, which was held in Tainan (first round) in Taiwan and Miyazaki (second round) in Japan for a total of 40 days until March 5.
Overall, the younger list stands out. Lotte, which had a disappointing first half and second half last year, believed in the growth of young players who accumulated full-time experience despite the fall baseball failure. He is not interested in Son Ah-seop, the main character of the KBO's most hits, which has been a hot topic this winter. Son Ah-seop is a hitting machine that represents the KBO league. Since his debut in the first division with Lotte in 2007, he has set a record of 100 hits for 14 consecutive years since 2010, ranking No. 1 in the KBO with 2,618 hits until last year.
The baseball community's perception as of January is that veteran designated hitters who have lost long balls and defense will be paid 750 million won in FA compensation. The same was true of Lotte, his former team. An official from the Lotte club told Star News on the phone on the 23rd, "We are not considering recruiting Son Ah-seop due to our team's composition. I've never even had a conversation," he said.
In fact, Lotte did not recruit any external FA this year. It is not much different from the recent trend of the KBO league to give young players a little more opportunity. In that sense, it is considered an unexpected move to add only one rookie, Park Jung-min (23) to this camp. If you focused only on fostering, you should have taken two or more rookies like other KBO teams. However, Lotte only granted the position to college graduates who can confirm whether they can use it for the first team this year. Instead, he took other young players who could play in the first-team stage again this year, showing another meaning of fostering.
An official from Lotte said, "A player who has not shown anything since he came to the professional league should be considered a zero-base. High school graduates are less built. That's why I'm trying to give you time to take your time and prepare slowly," he said, hinting at the reason why he takes only one rookie. "It means that Park Jung-min is a ready pitcher rather than taking him with a sense of power immediately. He is also said to have built his body well through the final training. He added, "He is a player with growth potential, so I will look closely at him in the camp."
Park Jung-min, a former Mae Song-joong, Jangchungo, and Hanil Jangshin University, is a right-hander who was nominated by Lotte as the 14th overall in the second round of the 2026 KBO rookie draft. Throwing a fast ball of up to 152km/h, the change-up is considered the most complete among rookies this year due to its strength. Kim Poong-chul, head of the Lotte Scout Team, told Star News, "Park Jung-min is basically a player with good game management ability. "He pitches aggressively on the mound regardless of whether he is a left-handed hitter or a right-handed hitter," he said. "In particular, he has excellent change-up ability, but it is difficult for left-handed hitters to respond because he fell into a similar trajectory to a fastball."
Meanwhile, two must-win groups, Kim Won-joong (33) and Choi Jun-yong (25) were also excluded from the first camp list. Kim Won-joong had a car accident in Gwangju Metropolitan City in December last year when his vehicle was completely damaged. Fortunately, the opponent's vehicle crashed into Kim Won-joong's passenger seat and did not even have a situation where inpatient treatment was needed. However, he was diagnosed with a right rib microfracture and is aiming to return in mid-February.
Choi Jun-yong's injury was also reported. According to Lotte team officials, Choi Joon-yong also failed to join them in the first camp due to a sprained right rib cartilage during training. Light exercise is still possible to control condition. Both are aiming to return after recovering their health as much as possible, so they will only join Taiwan's first camp mid-to-late.
An official from Lotte said, "Fortunately, neither Kim Won-joong nor Choi Jun-yong are fatal injuries. He's a really important player for our team. So I try to keep checking my physical condition without rushing. I will join the camp when I can pitch," he said.
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*This content was translated by AI.
