At the end of the 2022 season, fans are increasingly interested in who will be the Lotte hitter who will fill the vacancy of Lee Dae-ho, the ‘4th hitter of Joseon’ who left Lotte. As much as the fans’ expectations, the bats of batters who will lead the offense this season are heating up at the Lotte spring camp in Guam.
On the 7th, the 7th day of spring camp, Lotte conducted training on the second day of the second round at the Dededo Sports Complex, the main training ground. Lotte hitters did strength training and conditioning training in the morning, followed by bunt training, T-ball hitting training, and batting training using pitching machines in the afternoon. Lotte batters and pitchers are gradually increasing the intensity of training in the second round compared to the first round of training, which lasted for three days from the 2nd to the 4th.
Lotte ranked 9th out of 10 clubs in terms of team points (605 points) and RBIs (570 points) last season. The scoring position batting average (0.259) was also 7th out of 10 teams. As the number of goals decreased, it was not enough to raise a lot of wins. The ratio of relying on Lee Dae-ho was high in the center lineup, which should lead the team’s scoring. Lee Dae-ho hit 101 RBIs and 23 home runs last season. He accounted for 17.7% of team RBIs and 21.6% of team home runs.
For Lotte, it is urgent to raise the team’s scoring and scoring batting average in order to look at a higher place as well as fall baseball. Last season’s winning team SSG Landers (682 points) and Lotte’s RBI difference reached a whopping 112 points. The scoring batting average is also more than 2 pennies lower than the first place (Samsung, 0.281).
Han Dong-hee (24) is the most advanced hitter for Lotte to fill Lee Dae-ho’s vacancy. Han Dong-hee, who is in his 6th season this season, is sweating in spring camp to fulfill his role as the 4th hitter. Han Dong-hee achieved his first 300 batting average since his pro debut last season. He also achieved double-digit home runs (14 home runs) for three consecutive years, contributing to the team’s batting lineup. Han Dong-hee is reducing his weight by more than 10 kg and focusing on batting training in order to revive the batting that he burned at the beginning of last season. 바카라사이트
Lotte foreign batter Jack Rex (30) is also expected to play an active part in the team-centered batting line. Rex joined Lotte in July of last year and recorded a batting average of 0.330, 8 homers, and 34 RBIs for three months. After the end of last season, Lotte renewed the contract with Lotte for a total of 1.3 million dollars (down payment of 200,000 dollars, annual salary of 1 million dollars, and incentives of 100,000 dollars). This is the second highest salary among batters in the KBO League after Samsung Lions hitter Jose Pirella. Rex, whom I met at the spring camp, said, “I accepted Lotte’s offer for Lotte’s championship,” and expressed anticipation, saying, “I want to feel the heat of Busan’s baseball fans once again.”
Former and incumbent captains Jeon Jun-woo (37) and Ahn Chi-hong (32) must also lead the team-centered batting line with Han Dong-hee and Rex, so Lotte’s batting line will explode. Both Jun-woo Jeon and Chi-hong Ahn are expected to perform well this season as they both get free agent qualifications after this season. Infielder Kim Min-soo (25), who performed well as a backup player when Han Dong-hee was injured last season, is also expected to be a dark horse this season who can occupy a spot in the team’s batting lineup.
Lotte is conducting spring camp this season with a focus on improving the accuracy of batting and scoring power. Park Heung-sik, head coach and hitting coach of the 1st team, said, “It is important for Lotte’s batting line this season that all players, not just the main players, increase their scoring average.” We can go one step closer.”