“The pitchers are better than expected.”
On the 20th, the Lotte Giants officially appointed ‘Master General’ Manager Tae-hyung Kim as the 21st head coach. The contract size is 3 years and a total of 2.4 billion won (down payment of 600 million won, annual salary of 600 million won). After holding the inauguration ceremony on the 24th, coach Kim Tae-hyung began his work as Lotte's head coach in earnest, starting with a meeting with the first and second team players on the 25th.
Lotte created a sensation early this season. At the end of the May schedule, they maintained their top ranking and made strides toward their dream of advancing to the postseason. However, as injuries started pouring in in June, performance began to decline uncontrollably. Lotte attempted to rebound by replacing foreigners, but coach Larry Sutton was unable to complete the season and left the team, ultimately ending the season in 7th place.
After the regular season schedule ended, the biggest challenge surrounding Lotte was the appointment of a new head coach. It was the most important task to resolve the chaotic atmosphere caused by the loss of the commander. Lotte began looking for a new head coach last August, and appointed coach Kim Tae-hyung, a 'master' who led the Doosan Bears to the Korean Series (KS) for seven consecutive years, and the rumored 'Lotte Tae-hyung' became a reality.
Coach Kim Tae-hyung, who took the helm of Lotte, said to the 1st and 2nd team players on the 25th, "This year was a disappointing year for the team. You have to become stronger to win. To beat your opponent, your skills must be better than your opponent. To do that, each player must do their best." “You have to make this constant effort. I hope you will put in the effort yourself,” he said. “From the outside, I saw that the Lotte players were passionate and could do it, but they just couldn’t get over the turning point. I won’t go into a long story. I hope they do it with confidence, and next year. He delivered the message, “Let’s produce good results.”
The head coach continued, "All coaches will say the same thing about doing your best on the pitch. However, I tend to be strong when it comes to personal feelings and personal actions, but the players will have no reason to do that, and they will know it well even if I don't talk about it." "Usually, rookie players only have the thought that they will do a little better next year than they did now, but I would like to tell them that they should never make the mistake of thinking, 'I will do better than this year.' In baseball, you have to build your body by throwing and hitting the ball. “He said emphatically.
Manager Taehyung Kim greeted the players and ordered 'bullpen pitching' for the pitchers. How did it feel to watch him train on the first day? Before training on the 2nd day of the final camp at Sangdong Stadium in Gimhae on the 26th, the head coach said, "I have coached for the past 8 years and took a year off, and I feel connected. I feel like I am wearing the same uniform and directing. It's just that the team “It feels like something has changed,” he said, laughing, adding, “Most of the players are ones I haven’t seen before, but starting next week, when the existing (starting) players join, we will start training in earnest.”
Although it was really short, there were some players who stood out during the training process. They are Lee Jin-ha, who was selected 13th overall in the second round of the 2023 Rookie Draft, and Hong Min-ki, who was selected 4th overall in the second first round of the 2020 Rookie Draft. Lee Jin-ha appeared in 9 games this year and went 8 innings, leaving an ERA of 3.38 and potential. On the other hand, Hong Min-ki is a promising prospect who had high expectations, as can be seen from the nomination order, but he is Lotte's 'sore finger' who has not yet seen the light of day.
Coach Kim Tae-hyung hasn't completely learned the names of the players yet, but he said, "There are a lot of players with good velocity overall. Lee Jin-ha's pitch is good. And left-handed pitcher Hong Min-ki's pitch is about 150 km," he said, sticking his tongue out, "First of all, players with fast balls." “There are a lot of them. In order to run a game, you need ball control, but if fast pitchers can control the ball, their chances of success are higher.” Although it was short, it was clear that it left a strong impression.
However, among the fielders, there were not many players who looked like 'big guns'. Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "The pitchers look much better than expected. However, there don't seem to be any fielders with large physiques. I don't seem to see many strong hitters who can hit long balls. I see a few players, but there are no players who are significantly bigger." evaluated.
