*This content was translated by AI.
Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung (59) selected Yoon Sung-bin (27), a fireballer with a 160km/h fastball, as a de facto must-win group.
Coach Kim Tae-hyung met with reporters before leaving for Taiwan's spring camp through Incheon International Airport on the 27th and said, "I'm thinking about it as a must-win group to some extent rather than having high expectations for Yoon Sung-bin."
Lotte had a number of bad news ahead of its spring camp start. In December last year, closer Kim Won-joong (33) started a traffic accident. Kim Won-joong suffered a major car accident that caused his vehicle to be completely damaged by 100% of the opponent's negligence. Fortunately, the right rib microfracture ended with a relatively minor injury due to the opponent's vehicle hitting the passenger seat.
Choi Joon-yong (25) of the must-win group also suffered an injury. 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. Even now, light exercise is possible, but Lotte club has delayed its return to mid-February with the goal of 100% recovery.
Considering that even Jeong Cheol-won (27), who has recently been rumored to be divorced, is unable to concentrate on baseball, it can be said that he is somewhat relaxed. However, Lotte already had resources to slowly wait for their return.
The representative runner was Yoon Sung-bin. Yoon Sung-bin is a right-handed fireballer who joined the 2017 KBO Rookie Draft as the first designation after graduating from Dongil Jungang Elementary, Gyeongnam Middle School, and Busan High School. He threw a fast ball and raised expectations, but only played 21 games in the first team and 53 innings for eight years due to endless ball control difficulties and injuries.
However, through the trust of head coach Kim Tae-hyung last year, he finally set an opportunity for a reversal. In fact, Yoon Sung-bin's control was not good last year either. Because he was not sure himself, he even shook his hands in the match against Sajik LG Twins on May 20.
It was a situation where he could coolly throw away a pitcher who couldn't throw his ball because he was nervous. However, head coach Kim Tae-hyung saw the possibility of Yoon Sung-bin there. Coach Kim met with Star News at the Miyazaki Finishing Camp in Japan last year and said, "I saw his hands shaking. "Hey, I wondered how desperate he must have been to shake like that," he said, "So I asked him to give me another chance."
Along with him, it was a good move to change the position to a relatively less burdensome bullpen. Manager Kim said, "The starting pitcher has to run the game, but the middle pitcher only looks at the center and throws it, and the result comes out right away."
Yoon Sung-bin, who began to play as a bullpen in earnest, revealed his strengths without adding or subtracting. He overwhelmed his opponents by throwing fast balls over 159 kilometers per hour. As a result, he finished the season in the first team for the first time in a long time with a remarkable pitching of 44 strikeouts in 27 innings. Coach Kim was also satisfied, saying, "(Yoon) Sung-bin has now become a good mind, saying, 'If it's a ball, it's a ball, and if it's a strike, it's a strike.'
Yoon Sung-bin's weak but successful leap instilled confidence not only in Lotte players but also in the front desk. Through the second KBO draft in November last year, a number of potential prospects from the first round and first round of nominations, including left-hander Kim Joo-wan (23), right-hander Kim Young-joon (27), and left-hander Choi Choong-yeon (29), were brought in.
Asian quarter Masaya Kyoyama (28) is also a right-hander with a fastball of up to 155km/h and a large splitter. All of these resources have the potential to win despite their lack of control.
Manager Kim said, "Kyoyama has a high walking rate, but the ball is fast, so I think he is an intermediate pitcher. "Even if I give a walk, if the ball is good, I have the ability to strike out, so I try to set the direction after the interview," he said.
Choi Choong-yeon was reported to be improving. The other two players (Kim Young-joon and Kim Joo-wan) are also said to be good. Kim Joo-wan was discharged from the military in December and thought it was too much to take him now. But I'm going to take a look because the evaluation is good," he added.
Yoon Sung-bin was also a hope for young pitchers in similar situations. Another left-hander fireballer Hong Min-ki (25) and right-hander fastball pitcher Lee Min-seok (23) also boarded a flight to the first-team spring camp with hope.
Coach Kim said, " (Hong) Min-ki has been shaken toward his mental side, so I'm still trying to see a little more. Still, the ball was good while raising the arm angle a little during the finishing training. If it's that kind of a ball, you have to trust it and use it until it works," he said with a smile.
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*This content was translated by AI.
