Description
Lee Woo-sung invested a lot of time in defense to transform himself into a first baseman in this year's spring camp. It was not without Hwang Dae-in and other players to play as first baseman, but if Lee Woo-sung settled as first baseman, he could expect a positive effect on both the player and the club.
Lee Woo-sung played 140 ⅔ innings as a first baseman this season until the second game of the season against the Kiwoom Heroes of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 23rd. Depending on the situation, he was in charge of right field (70 innings), but he spent much more time as a first baseman.
The head coach is positively looking at Lee Woo-sung's defense on the first base. "I am in the best condition in our team, and I have maintained good (condition) for the month," Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho said. "Even though I played alternately between the first baseman and the right fielder, I am very grateful as a coach because I performed well without any problems. I am very satisfied with the current situation."
"To be honest, what's still difficult is baseball. It's still difficult because I don't have much experience playing as a first baseman," Lee Woo-sung said ahead of the match. "Every time I play as a first baseman, I may be a little late in judging the situation and forget it. Infielder (Kim) Sun-bin, (Park) Chan-ho, and (Kim) Do-young are telling me in advance how to play, leaving their seniors and juniors and taking good care of each other as a team member. I am grateful for that."
He didn't forget to mention the head coach who trusted him. Lee Woo-sung said, "Coach Lee Bum-ho has not been a negative person since he was a coach. To be honest, I used to think negative things more often, but he kept trying to change those things, such as playing pranks on purpose. Now, I try to think positive things a lot," he said, expressing his gratitude.
"I don't like it when he's wary of others. It's his mindset to do everything he wants to do without regret. As a player, I am grateful. When I practice, I think he leads the players well while leading the mood," he added.
Lee Woo-sung's presence is remarkable not only in defense but also in offense. He has 31 hits in 94 times at bat in 25 games, 0.330 with four homers and 18 RBIs with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.905. Notably, he made 11 RBIs last week (against the Incheon SSG Landers on April 16-18 and the Gwangju NC Dinos on April 19-21).
"I didn't think about my good performance. I didn't get many hits at critical opportunities," Lee said. "Since my team had three wins and three losses, I thought I had to do better this week and win a lot," he said. "I can't create that situation by myself. I'm grateful to my team members who gave me a lot of chances and worked hard to get home through two-base running."
Lee believes it is too early to pursue "career high" ambition. "I think it is a bit early to say so because it is still early in the season. When I play a season, I don't think about career high and I think I will be able to play the season with a commitment to help my team. I think each and every person should do well in order to play a game that wins a lot," he stressed.
Kia has 18 wins and seven losses (0.720) in 25 matches, with only two wins remaining until the 20 wins are available. At the current pace, it seems possible to seek the No. 1 spot in the regular season for the first time in seven years since 2017. "Players, from older to younger, don't think about winning 20 games. I am thinking about winning every day, and I am preparing for it," Lee said.
BY: 메이저사이트