Lee Jung-hoo (25, Kiwoom Heroes, photo), the best professional baseball player last year, is likely to spend a very busy season this year as well. He was appointed as the captain of the Kiwoom team for the 2023 season and was given the role of leader of the locker room.
Lee Jung-hoo is the only one in his 20s among nine players confirmed as captains of each team this season (Samsung Lions undecided). The next younger captains are 33-year-old Oh Ji-hwan (LG Twins), An Chi-hong (Lotte Giants), and Heo Gyeong-min (Doosan Bears). 25-year-old Lee Jung-hoo took up the captaincy at the age of eight years younger than them. He is unsurprisingly the youngest captain among the 10 clubs. He is the youngest among the captains of each team in the history of professional baseball. This is the part that shows Lee Jung-hoo’s presence in the team.
For Lee Jung-hoo, this season could be his last year playing in a Kiwoom uniform. Having made his professional debut in 2017, he has completed his 7th year this year to qualify for overseas advancement through the posting (private competitive bidding) system. He has already concluded an agreement with Kiwoom. At the end of last year, he conveyed his will to the club, “I want to challenge the Major League (MLB) after the 2023 season,” and the Kiwoom club also readily agreed, saying, “We support Lee Jung-hoo’s dreams and challenges.” Then, Lee Jung-hoo readily accepted the captaincy, saying, “It is important to enter the MLB, but first to reward the team with a championship this season.”
Lee Jung-hoo was also selected as a member of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) team to be held in March. He is the best outfielder in Korea, winning five batting crowns (batting average, RBI, hits, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage) last year. 카지노사이트 He has a lot of work to do on offense, defense and running. It is a determination to revive the pride of Korean baseball, which returned empty-handed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, at the WBC. In addition, this WBC can be a kind of ‘showcase’ stage that can show the true value of Lee Jung-hoo to MLB officials. MLB.com predicted Lee Jung-hoo’s participation in the WBC and expected, “If Korea reaches the semifinals, we will be able to see Lee Jung-hoo playing in a big league stadium in advance.”
After that, you have to return to Korea and run towards the most important goal, ‘winning’. Kiwoom went up to 2 wins and 2 losses against SSG Landers in the Korean Series last year, and then gave up the 5th and 6th games to take the runner-up. Lee Jung-hoo, who secretly shed tears after the series ended, still cannot forget the regret. He even planned to revise his batting form to get better results this season. He emphasized, “I’m trying to change my batting form a little to get better results in this year’s regular season, not to advance into the MLB,” and “MLB is a matter to think about after this season.”
Lee Jung-hoo has played hard for the team for the past six years. He is close enough to not only the players he currently plays with, but also his seniors who were once teammates. Lee Jeong-hoo said, “I didn’t have any special results in high school, I was just a player who hit the bat, but the team noticed my potential, so I joined as the first nomination and came this far.” I benefited from the club. This year may be the last season in the KBO, so I want to finish it by giving the team a championship.”
In order to reap the beauty of the end, Lee Jung-hoo has already started preparing for a busy year. On the 9th, he first departed for Los Angeles, USA, and started his personal training. Ha-seong Kim (San Diego Padres), who was a close senior during his Kiwoom days, will also join soon and train together. ‘Captain’ Lee Jung-hoo stood on the starting line one step ahead of others.