Dropping out of the national team is actually better for LG.
Catcher Park Dong-won, who signed a FA contract with the LG Twins, was included in the preliminary list for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, but was not selected for the final entry (30 players) announced in early January. National team coach Lee Kang-cheol and the KBO Technical Committee selected two catchers, Yang Eui-ji (Doosan) and Lee Ji-young (Kiwoom). Park Dong-won, who played with Lee Ji-young at Kiwoom until April of last year, was unfortunately eliminated.
However, the dropout of the WBC national team may be regrettable for Park Dong-won, but considering LG, it can be a good result for both the team and the players. This is because Park Dong-won has time to work with LG pitchers before the opening and understand the pitchers’ tendencies and interact with them.
Park Dong-won was traded from Kiwoom to KIA in April of last year. KIA, which fell to ninth place in the 2021 season, aimed for the top 5 or higher with extensive power reinforcement, and solved the weak catcher depth with Park Dong-won. 헤라카지노
Last season, KIA placed 5th in the regular season and was eliminated by KT in the wild card match in the postseason. Park Dong-won, who obtained FA status after the season, signed a 4-year contract with LG for 6.5 billion won at the end of November when negotiations with KIA broke down. During the year, his team changed from Kiwoom → KIA → LG, and he returned to Seoul after leaving Seoul.
In a New Year’s interview, Park Dong-won said about transferring teams twice in a short period of time and joining a new team, LG, “Honestly, I don’t know right now. I don’t work out with the players, so I wonder if it would be different if I went to spring camp and worked out together.”
At the same time, he emphasized that he should focus on preparing for the season. Park Dong-won said, “As I was traded during the season, I played right away without any preparation time for the new team. I felt sorry for the KIA pitchers. We didn’t have enough time to get to know each other. I wish I had known sooner, so I’m sorry. You have to know your opponent and fight. I was lacking a bit, and it was a pity that I didn’t have enough time. At the end of the year, I contacted KIA juniors and said,’I’m very sorry’.”
He continued, “(After coming to LG) I think I will prepare well because I have time to work with the pitchers and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the players during the spring camp.”
You should get used to the movement of the ball tip while receiving the ball from the main pitchers, including foreign pitchers Kelly and Plutko, young starters, and closer Ko Woo-seok.
However, if Park Dong-won is selected for the WBC national team, he will not have enough time to work with LG pitchers by participating in the national team. The national team is scheduled to start training on February 14th and hold the tournament until mid-March. Training with the players of the team is limited to two weeks in early February and an exhibition game in March.
For Park Dong-won and LG, ‘dropping out of the national team’ is a blessing in disguise. Park Dong-won, while conducting personal training at Jamsil Stadium during the off-season, said, “I think it’s good to talk about pitchers’ various indicators and vertical movements when the opponent is ready first. He said, “When the other person is open-minded, he wants me to reach out and talk.”
For example, when asked about the feeling of Woo-seok Ko, the finisher who throws a fastball of up to 158 km, Park Dong-won said, “(Until last year), Woo-seok Ko’s velocity was very fast from the point of view of hitting the ball. (As a catcher) I was put in a position to catch the ball. I get a little nervous. The ball is so fast and we don’t know the trajectory of the breaking ball yet, so we need to catch it well. He has to prepare well,” he explained.
He continued, “In spring camp, pitchers have to receive a lot of pitching balls from the bullpen. At KIA, when the pitchers played catch, I did it together. (LG pitchers) I think it will take time to catch a lot of balls.”
I asked catcher Yoo Kang-nam, who had left for Lotte, if he was willing to listen to the advice of LG pitchers. Park Dong-won said, “I met by chance at the exercise center while exercising off-season. Kangnam said that LG pitchers are really good pitchers, and that it was comfortable. He said that pitchers are good, so (I) will be able to do it comfortably,” he said. “If there is something lacking, you can ask Gangnam. A catcher who has received a lot of balls knows that well,” he said with a laugh.