“You learn faster when you get scolded.”

After meeting with the first and second team players on the 25th, Lotte Giants coach Kim Tae-hyung was asked various questions in an interview with reporters. As he was on the professional stage as a catcher during his active years, he could not miss asking questions about his ‘home wife’. The head coach said, “I would like to say that Lotte’s catcher is the best in the KBO league right now.”

As per the head coach, Lotte’s catcher lineup is equipped with both the present and the future. If we look only at the present, there is Yoo Kang-nam, who signed a four-year contract worth a total of 8 billion won ahead of this season, and if we look at future resources, there are Son Sung-bin, who returned from military service, and Jeong Jeong-geun, who showed potential with his batting this year. If the growth of promising players progresses smoothly, there will be no worries about homecoming for the next few years.

Among many catchers, the one who receives the most attention is Son Seong-bin. Son Seong-bin, who was well-received enough to win the ‘Lee Man-su Catcher Award’ during his high school days, was selected in the first round by Lotte in the 2021 rookie draft. After showing his potential with a batting average of 0.316 in 20 games in his first debut season, Son Seong-bin immediately joined Sangmu and returned to the first team after being discharged this year.

Son Seong-bin, whose batting performance improved noticeably in Sangmu, had the opportunity to appear in 45 games, much more than in his first season of debut, and left with 20 hits, 1 home run, 15 RBIs, 13 runs, a batting average of 0.263, and an OPS of 0.624. In particular, what caught the eyes of many people was Son Seong-bin’s ability to steal bases. Son Seong-bin recorded a stolen base blocking percentage of 0.700 (7 out of 10 times) based on the highest level of pop type (1.80 seconds) in the major league.

Although the sample was not large, Son Seong-bin recorded the highest steal blocking rate in the league, and it is no longer easy to target second base in front of Son Seong-bin. Based on such good performances, Son Seong-bin was selected to the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) national team to be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan in November this year, and even experienced the joy of wearing the national flag.

Son Seong-bin, who met with reporters during training on the second day of the finishing camp held at Sangdong Stadium in Gimhae on the 26th, said about being selected for the APBC national team, “Except for the U-23 national team, this is my first time playing for the adult national team. My friends and older brothers who did well in the league are all here, so there are a lot of people.” “I think it will be an opportunity to learn,” he said with a bright smile, adding, “There is no exemption from military service like in the Asian Games, but as an athlete, you naturally want to win. I think it is important to go and do well.”

Son Seong-bin said, “I thought the Asian Games members would go out as is. To be honest, I didn’t think I would be selected, but I think I was lucky. In fact, I had been aiming to make the Asian Games national team, but (Kim) Hyeong-jun knew that he was very good, and the opportunity was there.” “I thought it was natural,” he said, clenching his fists tightly, “In the end, Hyungjun has to surpass his brother. If I do well when I get the chance, I think their perception of me will change.”

Manager Kim Tae-hyung praised Lotte’s catcher lineup, which includes Yoo Kang-nam and Son Sung-bin, but also expressed regret over Son Sung-bin’s selection to the ABPC national team. The reason is because of the blow. The head coach expressed his wish, saying, “I want to adjust the catchers’ hitting a little. He has power, so I hope he swings according to his strength. It looks like he can hit a long ball. I hope he catches the ball just right and hits it.” “As for the defense…” he didn’t say anything more, but gave the evaluation that it was flawless.

His stance is that he will learn as much as possible before joining the national team. He said, “I’m looking forward to learning from the manager,” and “I think it’s really important to have a background as a catcher. I’m sure there are many other good managers, but he was a catcher during his active years and is even more specialized. I think about getting scolded. Yes. On the other hand, I think you will learn a lot. Normally, if you learn while being scolded, your skills will improve faster and you can feel it directly,” he said with a smile.

I had a really hectic season this year, joining the first team at the same time as I was discharged, but it was a season in which I learned a lot. On days when Son Seong-bin was not playing, he made an effort to analyze the opposing team by preparing notes for each team and observing and recording the reactions of the opposing batters, and now he has a little bit of free time. He said, “I have a lot more leeway. In fact, at first I couldn’t breathe in the first team. It was really difficult, but I received a lot of help from those around me, so it was a time to learn and feel baseball.”

Of course, there were disappointments in the batting, but there were good reasons for that. Son Seong-bin said, “I never thought I couldn’t hit the bat, but this year, after being discharged from the military, I focused on defense. I really only thought about defense.” He added, “I can’t give a score because I only played for half a year, but I wrote down what I felt in each game. “I think we will be able to show a better performance next year. I think we need to prepare better and prove that the evaluation was not wrong and maintain it,” he emphasized.먹튀검증

There are seniors named Yoo Kang-nam and Jeong Jeong-geun, but in the end, the professional stage is a competition. Only good players survive. Son Seongbin does not know this either. He said, “I think we need to show that we are clearly good at something, rather than showing that we are good at something. We need to do well enough that there is a reason for this player to exist. Based on this season’s experience, we will be able to prepare much better for next season.” “The timing is very important,” he said, pledging to show a better side.