For Lotte Giants’ Yoon Dong-hee (21), 2023 is literally a year of reversals. It’s been a movie-like season of reversals.
In her rookie season, she played just four games and made 13 plate appearances. The commercial assistant was also eliminated. He was the only one in the team to be eliminated. It was a blindside.
It was a blessing in disguise. Last year, he played 107 games and 423 at-bats, establishing himself as the centerpiece of Lotte’s outfield. Manager Kim Tae-hyung considered him a solid mainstay alongside captain Jeon Jun-woo and catcher Yoo Kang-nam.
He was nominated for the Rookie of the Year award after batting .288 with a .687 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage). 온라인카지노 He also won a gold medal at the Asian Games, completed his military service, and represented his country in the APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship).
With a slender frame of 1.86 meters and a fair face, he is now a youth star representing not only Lotte but also the league.
We met him at his alma mater, Daewon Middle School, where he was coaching juniors during the off-season.
“When I came in a Yatapgo uniform, I felt like, ‘Who is that older brother,’ but this year, they said, ‘Lotte Yoon Dong-hee,’ and told me to just play with them as if I were a neighbor,” she smiles. “I’m trying to prepare with the same mindset this year,” he emphasized.
“When my name is mentioned next to Jeon Jun-woo and Yoo Kang-nam, I feel nervous. I’m just grateful that the coach thinks so highly of me, and I want to show that in practice. I feel like I have a lot of responsibility going into camp.”
Newcomer Victor Reyes is an outfielder. “I’m confident that I’ll do my best no matter what position I play,” Yoon smiled.
Players with a slender build often worry about their lack of power. Current Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop, who was known for hitting home runs with his aim and timing, also had a very different body type at the beginning of his career and after he became a full-fledged home run hitter.
Yoon Dong-hee is basically a home run hitter.
However, he also has the desire to hit long balls. “I have enough muscle mass. It’s just a little on the tight side. It comes from my father, who is an athlete and plays social baseball,” he said.
“I was 88 kilograms at the start of the season, and by the end of it I was 83 kilograms, and now I’m up to 91 kilograms, which I think will help me with my stamina, and I feel stronger.”
When asked about his goals, he always replies, “I just want to do my best day by day, match by match. This year, his first goal is to play a full season without getting sick.
He doesn’t have any role models. He prefers to create his own identity rather than copy someone else. He has a unique but natural batting form.
He also learned his own batting method, 바카라사이트 순위 which is to hit the ball high on the body. Former Lotte manager Larry Sutton applauded her as a “major league-style sensible hit. “I didn’t know much about it, but coach Park Heung-sik (now the head coach of Doosan) found it and utilized it,” Yoon said.
This year, Yoon has a new goal.
“Last year, I had to hit a lot to stay in the first team. This year, I’m aiming to use my lower body properly and swing properly every time. If I do that, my batting speed will increase, my distance will increase, and I’ll have a lot of good hits.”