SSG Landers has a young catcher vying to be the team’s starting catcher in 2024.

SSG was led by Kim Min-sik, 35, last year. A veteran catcher who has won two Korean Series titles with KIA in 2017 and SSG in 2022, Min-sik, who batted .622 with 24 home runs, 214 RBIs and an OPS of .622 in 821 games (1875-for-426) in the KBO, was eligible for Class C free agency after last season.

SSG is determined to re-sign Min-sik and has been in contract talks with him, but has been unable to reach an agreement over the past year. SSG, which offered Kim a non-free agent multi-year contract in 2022, has been making moves to re-sign Kim, 바카라사이트 including releasing Lee Jae-won unconditionally, who asked for a new opportunity.

If re-signed, Kim will likely be SSG’s starting catcher again this year.

However, the contract talks are taking longer than expected, and Min-sik’s performance last year was disappointing, with a .618 OPS with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 122 games (266 at-bats, 58 hits). SSG also bolstered its catching staff by bringing in Park Dae-on and Shin Beom-soo in the second round of the draft. They also plan to give a lot of opportunities to younger players.

Cho Hyung-woo, 22, who gained experience as a backup catcher last year, is a big catcher prospect SSG is looking forward to. He was drafted in the second round (8th overall) of the 2021 Rookie Draft and batted 1-for-18 (22 RBI in 119 at-bats) with two home runs, 12 RBI and a .526 OPS in 62 games last year. Despite his poor batting performance, he was good on defense, playing 312⅔ defensive innings and posting a high stolen base rate of 34.1% (29/44).

In an interview on the 3rd

Cho said, “I think it’s my first time preparing properly in the offseason, so there’s nothing special. I’m doing weight training and technical training at the baseball field, and I’m gradually increasing the amount of training,” Cho said of his preparation for the season.

“Looking back, I don’t think there was much difference in technique between the second team and the first team,” Cho said. “I think there was a sense of urgency to catch one more ball and get one more at-bat. I had to do well no matter what. It’s a shame that I didn’t show everything I had,” he reflected on last year.

“Cho Hyung-woo, who said he was disappointed with his hitting, added, “I never thought I was good at defense. I was more confident in my batting, but in the first team, defense is more important than batting, so I focused on defense. My defense was good, but I don’t think I had an impactful game at the plate. This year, my goal is to play the most games among catchers. At the end of the season, I want to play so many games that anyone can say I’m a starter,” he said.

In the second round of the draft

New catcher Shin Beom-soo (26) joined SSG from KIA. Shin, who was selected in the eighth round (78th overall) of the 2016 Rookie Draft, batted 1-for-17 (31-for-173) with four home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .568 OPS in 96 career games. Last year, he received significant playing time with KIA, but only batted 1-for-7 (15-for-88) with two home runs, 10 RBIs and a .518 OPS in 36 games.

On his new hairstyle, Shin said, “When I came to SSG from KIA, my brothers told me that I should change my hair. I was excited, so I changed my hairstyle. It was sad to leave my close brothers, but I came to Incheon with a good heart,” he said.

“Now that I’m in a new team, I want to contribute to the team and play in the first team for a long time,” said Shin Beom-soo. “I think I lacked physical strength and concentration as I kept going to games last year. I regretted the plays I couldn’t make. Now, I’m focusing on building my physical strength,” he said, explaining his focus for the season.

“I’m trying to build my body so that I can hit long shots at the plate. I am confident in playing hard and doing my best,” he said. When asked about the weakness of SSG’s catching staff, he said, “I didn’t think SSG’s catchers were weak when I saw them from the outside. 토토사이트 순위 We have a lot of good catchers. I think we can do better with synergy with each other,” he said. “I would like to receive the balls of Kim Kwang-hyun and Seo Jin-yong,” he said, adding that the balls looked really good from the outside.