*This content was translated by AI.
Lotte Giants outfielder Yoon Dong-hee (23) left for Taiwan with the goal of hitting .300 for the first time in his career.
Yoon Dong-hee said in an interview with reporters before leaving for Tainan, Taiwan, where the 2026 Lotte Spring Camp will be held through Gimhae International Airport on the 25th, "It's a camp I go to every year, but I'm excited every year. "I've prepared just as hard this year, so I'm going to go and make sure I've prepared well with the coaches and go without any injuries," he said.
Lotte will start a total of 40 days of spring camp from this day to March 5. The camp, which will involve a total of 41 players, including 20 pitchers, five catchers, nine infielders and seven outfielders, will be divided into the first round in Tainan, Taiwan, and the second round in Miyazaki, Japan. Asian quarter player Masaya Kyoyama (28) joins immediately and leaves together, while new foreign pitchers Jeremy Bisley (31) and Elvin Rodriguez (28) depart on the same day and head to Taiwan. Victor Reyes (32), who plays for Lotte for three consecutive years, will depart for Taiwan on February 1.
Yoon Dong-hee had a disappointing season last year after failing to play at-bats due to a thigh injury. He marked a batting average of 0.282 (93 hits in 330 at-bats) in 97 regular-season games, nine homers, 53 RBIs, 54 runs and four steals, and an on-base percentage of 0.386 slugging percentage of 0.433. As a result, he completed his salary contract for 2026 at 180 million won, a 10% cut from 200 million won.
I had no complaints about my salary cut. Yoon Dong-hee said, "An annual salary is something a player can't do about. I was completely convinced by the results of the salary negotiations because it was set by the club. I thought it was reasonable because the number of games itself was small last year. "I was the most disappointed in that part myself, so I prepared this winter's training with a focus on that so that I can play full-time without injury this year," he said with strength.
Rather, he blamed himself for not being able to play many games. Yoon Dong-hee said, "Through last season, I thought that I had to come to the ballpark often to be recognized as a baseball player. "Anyway, I knew that I had to play baseball in front of my fans to remember me, and that I could become a good player only when I did that," he said honestly.
He continued, "There was no significant change in the hitting mechanism or other parts. Every year, I changed my desire to do better, but this year I worked out mainly on weight training and bulk up. I think it's the most important to keep the original good part, so I prepared it while keeping it all," he added.
Yoon Dong-hee does not set any special goals every year, but this year is a specific goal. He has a batting average of .300 that he has never played throughout his career. Yoon Dong-hee made his first-team debut in 2022 and marked a batting average of 0.293 in 2024. Yoon Dong-hee said, "I haven't set a big goal every year when I'm asked this question, but I want to hit a .300 batting average that I haven't been able to do before this year. In the meantime, if the focus has been more on long balls, I think I want to play the season with more sophistication this time. "I want to be a player without ups and downs, so I'm going to play like that this year," he said.
Park Gun-woo (36, NC Dinos), who ranks third in KBO batting average (0.324), has been newly appointed as a role model. Yoon Dong-hee said, "Since I'm an outfielder, I'm referring to Park Gun-woo a lot. I won't be as good as Park Kun-woo right away, but I wanted to imitate the part where I don't step down easily every time." He said, "I thought I would be able to hit a .300 batting average if I made such good contact and my coping improved after two strikes. I want to be close to him because he's such an amazing senior," he said with a smile.
Lotte, which had a record-breaking first half last year, failed to play another fall baseball if the second half collapsed. Yoon Dong-hee, who has already become a mid-range player in his fifth year, also has a stronger sense of responsibility.
Yoon Dong-hee said, "I'm already in my fifth year. I felt that it was not just important to do well, but that I had a role to play as a team member of the Lotte Giants. I thought a lot while resting during the off-season, but only when the team gets better can the players get better, he said. "As the annual leave increases every year, expectations increase." I think my expectations and those around me will be different. However, I think the fans will be satisfied if I meet my expectations as I prepared," he said with strength.
On this day, Lotte's team gathered at Sajik Baseball Stadium and departed together to go to Gimhae International Airport. From then on to Gimhae International Airport, the players left for Taiwan with cheers of "Lotte Fighting." Asked about the passionate Lotte fan, Yoon Dong-hee said, "I always come to the camp every time I leave for the camp, but I think more people came because I left Gimhae on the weekend evening." "I'm really proud of our Lotte Giants fans." "I'm most happy and excited when I play baseball at Sajik Baseball Stadium," he said honestly.
He said, "The fans of other clubs are also very enthusiastic, but I think our Lotte Giants fans are the best fandom. I think the cheering sound when playing baseball at Sajik Baseball Stadium and the power of that cheering when you do well are really great. So I want to do well and repay you this year," he said.
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*This content was translated by AI.
