Lotte is confirming some consolation at a time when its ranking is sagging. Na Seung-yeop, 22, who has been reborn as the team’s main first baseman, is one of them. Since his discharge from the military, Na has established himself in the team’s strength this year, providing hope to the team’s batters.
He was once on the verge of signing a contract with a Major League team. He has been called the best hitter of his age since his days as a high school student. He was evaluated as having a imposing physique of 190 centimeters and possessing both strength and softness in his swing. Lotte’s victory over Na was a major incident that gave hope to the team’s future. After nominating him as the second round (11th overall) in the rookie draft in 2021, he persuaded him, and gave him a down payment of 500 million won (approx.스포츠토토
It took some time to fill a big bowl with water. He made his debut in the top-tier Korean pro baseball league in 2021, but only posted a batting average of 0.204 in 60 games. Lotte put more effort into it. After patiently serving in the military, he sent him to the military early on. After returning from the military service, Na caught the eye of new coach Kim Tae-hyung this season, and has now made a leap forward as a starting player. As of Tuesday, he has posted a batting average of 0.303, five homers, 40 RBIs and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.878 in 77 games during this season. He has now filled the required number of at-bats. This means that it is not a small sample.
Kim highly values the batting materials of Na. It is self-evident that he is a player who will lead the team’s future batting lineup. He has many things to do even within three years of Kim’s tenure. However, Kim does not rush to think about it. Rather, he hopes that the player will continue his strides. If a player hits a lot of home runs right away, it will naturally help the team, and Kim’s tenure will gain momentum. However, I hope that the team’s top batter will grow further. He always says, “Don’t be greedy.”
Manager Kim doesn’t think Na Seung-yeop is a batter who can hit many home runs yet. He still needs more time. I hope you strengthen it step by step from the basics. I am confident that if you devote that much, you will be able to grow into a mid- to long-distance hitter who also hits a lot of home runs in two to three years. He calls for not being conscious of the long hit, and for now, you should continue to supplement it in terms of technology.
Na Seung-yeop is also fulfilling Kim’s order. There may be no batters who are greedy for home runs, but the focus is on accuracy and swing mechanisms. If he became greedy for long balls and his swing got bigger, there would have been no batting average exceeding 300 this year. “That’s the right thing,” manager Kim said. Manager Kim admitted that hitters who have the power to hit home runs have no choice but to put home runs as the top priority in their heads, but emphasizes that if they have a stronger foundation, they can hit more home runs in the future.
“There are times when I hit a ball and it goes over, I think, ‘This is it.’ Basically, you are born to hit a homerun batter and a long hit. I can hit a homerun with strength, but I don’t know how to hit the homerun yet,” Kim said. “I can’t decide to hit the homerun with strength.”
Then, Kim recalled Yang Eui-ji (37), who he coached during the Doosan Bears. He is selected as a representative player who can hit home runs through timing rather than strength. “I was not a player who hit home runs from the beginning. However, I originally had talent in batting. I liked his ability to hit because of his good wrist,” Kim said. “Yang also took steps to become a batter who can hit more than 20 home runs.”
In fact, Yang hit 20 home runs in 2010, but his home run pace has plummeted since then. However, after refining the technical elements, at some point, the home run hitters began to explode. Yang returned to the batter’s box with 20 home runs in 2015, and he has hit double-digit home runs every year until this year. In 2020 and 2021, he hit more than 30 home runs. He is not a batter who hits by force. He is a batter who can reversely use his pitches with timing. This is the secret to being able to hit many home runs steadily even as he gets older. If he had played only with his natural strength since childhood, his home run pace could never have been a long run.
As Na has a good physique, chances are high that he will continue to strengthen himself. If he adjusts his skills well enough, he can develop into a batter who can hit 20 to 30 home runs at a high batting average. He needs two to three years of patience to produce such a batter. The fact that Na, who had focused on accuracy for a while, is hitting homers accompanied by a batting average of 300 suggests the possibility. In a way, it can be an enjoyable wait.