“I hope I can play baseball happily without pressure.”
Yoon Dong-hee was nominated by the Lotte Giants in the 24th overall in the 2nd 3rd round of the 2022 rookie draft. His last season had 2 hits and 1 RBI in 4 games. After the season, he was scheduled to gain experience at Geelong Korea, but chose to take a break due to an elbow treatment problem.
The player who joined Geelong Korea in place of Yoon Dong-hee was Kim Min-seok. Kim Min-seok wore a Lotte uniform with the 3rd overall ranking in the 1st round of the 2023 rookie draft. In Geelong Korea, he recorded 20 games, 16 hits, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 11 runs, 3 stolen bases, batting average of 0.235 OPS 0.612. 메이저사이트
Yoon Dong-hee and Kim Min-seok are preparing for this season by sweating at the Lotte Spring Camp in Okinawa, Japan. Both players performed well in practice matches, impressing head coach Larry Sutton.
In a practice game against the Samsung Lions held at Akama Stadium on February 28, Yoon Dong-hee played an active part with 2 hits, 1 RBI, 1 run and 1 steal. In particular, he tied the game by scoring with a bold home steal in the 6th inning when the team was trailing 2-3.
Kim Min-seok also showed great performance in the practice game. He recorded 1 hit, 1 run and 1 stolen base against Samsung. In the match against SSG Landers on the 1st, he had 2 hits. And in the second confrontation with SSG on the 4th, he made a big success with 5 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 RBIs, 2 runs and 2 steals.
Manager Sutton said, “Kim Min-seok and Yoon Dong-hee stood out,” but “I don’t want to use the word ‘expectation’ for these two young players. It’s not that I don’t expect them. I hope the two players can play baseball happily without pressure. Their own baseball.” I hope to continue,” he said.
Sutton continued, “I hope Min-seok Kim and Dong-hee Yoon feel that ‘first-team players are like this’ and then enjoy the camp with the thought ‘I should be like that’.” “It could be the near future or the far future. But one thing is for sure, these two players are the future of Lotte.”
