Lotte is the team that has not won the championship for the longest time among the 10 Korean professional baseball teams. 1992 was the last victory in the Korean Series. Since 2017, he has not even performed on the postseason stage. As LG won the Korean Series for the first time in 29 years this year, interest in Lotte has grown.
Coach Kim said the first step to the top is “defense.” He said, “There were not many team errors (103 errors, tied for third place in the team’s minimum errors) this year. However, there were many games where the team collapsed after a decisive defensive mistake. “The strong defense will strengthen the team and improve the texture,” he said. 안전놀이터
As soon as Kim took the helm of Lotte, he brought in senior coach Kim Min-jae, defensive coach Kim Min-ho, and baserunning coach Ko Young-min. All of them are defense experts. Kim is a former national shortstop who participated in the first World Baseball Classic in 2006. Coach Kim Min-ho and Coach Ko won the Golden Glove as shortstop and second baseman, respectively, when they were players.
After the end of this season, Lotte had a big gap in its infield as second baseman An Chi-hong, who became a free agent (FA), moved his team to Hanwha. Coach Kim said, “Park Seung-wook, Noh Jin-hyuk, Lee Hak-joo, and Han Dong-hee should be well positioned,” adding, “Newcomer Jung Dae-sun and Lee Joo-chan, who returned from military service in the second year, are also resources to help the infield defense.”
