Lotte’s Yoon Dong-hee, who rose through the ranks in a year, “I went to school with Kim Min-seok and lived with him… I’m aiming for 120 hits this season”

In one year, his status has changed dramatically. This is the story of Lotte Giants second-year outfielder Yoon Dong-hee.

Last year, Yoon appeared in four first-team games, batting just 2-for-13 with a home run, 1-for-5, four RBI, and one run scored. This year, he has become indispensable for Lotte. As of Tuesday, he is batting .331 (100-for-331) with two home runs, 35 RBI, 39 runs scored and one stolen base in 93 games. He has triple-digit hits for the first time in his career and is on pace to reach regular season plate appearances.

“Actually, I’m not too worried about regulation at-bats,” said Yoon, who is enjoying a career-high season. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care about my record. Even if I’m curious, I don’t look up my record, only when I do well,” she laughs.

“I don’t really look at the scoreboard when I step into the batter’s box, but I found myself looking at the batting average on the scoreboard. Now, I don’t think I should look at the scoreboard, so I don’t pay attention to it and just relax.”토토사이트

Yoon’s first goal heading into this season was to stay in the first team longer than last year, and he’s already accomplished that. He surpassed the 100-hit mark for the first time in his career and is aiming for 120. He said, “You have to have a goal to make progress.”

We asked Yoon Dong-hee what he thinks of his ‘super rookie’ Min-seok. He said, “He’s the one who hangs out with me and lives with me. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have done so well this season, and I think we have a synergistic effect with him.”

Yoon Dong-hee added, “Min-seok is junior to me, but we are close like friends, and it’s really important for me to have someone I can talk to off the field.”

The KBO held a meeting of its Strength and Conditioning Committee (chaired by Cho Gye-hyun) on March 29 to finalize the 62-player reserve roster for the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023, which will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan this November.

The APBC 2023, which will be held for the second time after the inaugural tournament was held in 2017, will consist of players aged 24 or younger (born on or after January 1, 1999) or within their third year in the professional ranks, as well as three wild cards (born on or after January 1, 1994), with the final 26-man roster set to be confirmed in the middle of next month.

Among Lotte players, Yoon Dong-hee, Jin Seung-hyun, Choi Joon-yong and Kim Jin-wook (pitchers), Lee Jung-geun and Son Sung-bin (catchers), Han Dong-hee (infielders) and Ko Seung-min and Kim Min-seok (outfielders) were included in the preliminary roster. There are 12 Lotte players, including Han Tae-yang, Na Seung-yeop (infield) and Choo Jae-hyun (outfield), who are serving in the military. “A lot of my teammates were selected, and I think it will be really fun if we all go together,” Yoon said.

Reflecting on her season, Yoon said, “Toward the end of the first half, I was physically exhausted. My forearms are getting thinner and thinner,” she said, adding, “It was expected because I was playing full-time for the first time, but next year, I will be more careful about eating and controlling my physical strength.”

“When I hit a home run for the second consecutive game this season, I became conscious of hitting long balls, and my record was always bad, but now I’m thinking that if I hit it, it will come out,” he said. When I asked him how he was going to approach the rest of the season, his answer was simple and bold: “I’m going to work hard.”