“It’s late!” The ‘baseball genius’ with an annual salary of 260 million won, what is the story of the transformation into a morning person? 

KT Wiz Kang Baek-ho (24) dreams of a revival this season.

Kang Baek-ho said in an interview with the spring camp held at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, USA on the 12th (Korean time), “His physical condition and hitting feel so good right now. There is also the WBC (World Baseball Classic), and I tried to prepare for the season with a good feeling, so the pace rose quickly. I feel good because I have a lot of training. I am working really hard,” he said, conveying his current condition.

Kang Baek-ho, who had the best season by ranking third in the 2021 league MVP vote, struggled with injuries and sluggishness last season and only recorded a batting average of .245 (58 hits in 237), 6 homers, 29 RBIs, and an OPS of .683 in 62 games. His annual salary this season was cut by a whopping 47.3% from 550 million won to 290 million won.

Kang Baek-ho, who is struggling with all his might in this spring camp, adjusts his batting sense quickly while watching the pitchers’ balls in the at-bat when pitchers pitch in the bullpen. Kang Baek-ho, who said, “It is helpful to see pitchers’ balls in advance,” said, “If you look at the ball without seeing it, it is very fast. If you look at it for a long time, even 130 km seems fast. When you first see the ball, players and ordinary people are the same. It feels equally fast. So, you have to look at the ball quickly and save it in your head,” he explained why he looked at pitchers’ balls in advance.

Kang Baek-ho, who suffered from an injury last season, said, “I am taking good care of my body and stretching hard. He is trying to start the morning more diligently than in other years. He wakes up a little early and tries to build a morning routine. He has been in Arizona for a little over 10 days, and he continues to do the same,” he said, diligently exercising.

Kang Baek-ho said, “On the first day, I fell asleep around 9:00 PM. I was so refreshed when I woke up. So I looked at the clock and it was 12 o’clock. ‘It’s been a big deal. I was late for exercise,’ he said, and went out, but it was still night, so he came back. And from then on, I wake up at 6:00 in the morning.” 스포츠토토

Kang Baek-ho, who said, “I wake up at 6:30 this year,” said, “When I wake up, I first go into hot water and warm up for about 20 minutes. And around 7:30, I come to the stadium first and exercise. We do weight training and start regular training together at 8:30. I don’t think it’s bad to have a morning routine. It’s refreshing,” he explains of his new morning routine.

He also lost weight to prevent injury. Kang Baek-ho said, “I lost about 5 to 6 kg. I’ve gained about 3-4 kg now because of the jet lag, but I’ll lose it again. During the original season, I maintained around 102~103kg, but now it is around 97~98kg. He intends to keep it during the season,” he said.

Kang Baek-ho is also attempting a change to put the hitting point later than last season in the technical part. He said, “I am trying a lot in hitting. Last season, the hitting point went forward a lot, but I’m trying to pull it back again. At the same time, he plans to produce a lot of strong batted balls.”

Can Kang Baek-ho, who has transformed into a morning person and faithfully prepares for the season, succeed in rebounding this season and regain his reputation as a ‘baseball genius’?

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