What’s wrong with the U.S.? Are you sure you’re recruiting Ryu Hyun-jin?
No way. He must be in Okinawa right now (Ryu started his personal training with Hanwha pitchers Jang Min-jae, Nam Ji-min and Kim Ki-joong in Okinawa, Japan on Jan. 8). A new stadium will open in Daejeon in 2025. He is considering installing a pitching lab equipped with biomechanical equipment in the new stadium. That is why he is looking around American pitching academies such as “Driveline.”
Hanwha was ranked ninth last year, but had 12 more wins than the previous season. Given the glimmers of hope, how far will it rise this year.
His goal is to advance to the round of five, the final goal of the postseason. I know some people think it will be tough. However, we should not be mired in the thought that we are weak. We are a team that can become stronger. Ryu may not be able to join us this year. However, when Ryu returns, a better team must be formed.헤라카지노주소
What did you prepare for the offseason as a general manager and what are you doing.
If a team is strong, it has five batters that it can consistently hit. We plan to start with four players. There is Noh Si-hwan, and we brought Chae Eun-seong as a free agent last year. This winter, we recruited Ahn Chi-hong. And there are four foreign hitters as well. Ahn is a veteran player who is capable of clutching and knows how to hit based on situation. On top of that, if Jung Eun-won, who showed poor performance last year, and rookie Moon Hyun-bin give more effort, the number will increase to six. Jung is strongly committed to making a comeback, postponing his mandatory military service for one year. The coaching staff gave good evaluations at the finishing camp in Miyazaki, Japan.
It is the general manager’s responsibility. The team had a lot of difficulties ahead of this season. Pitchers took a conservative approach. So, both Felix Peña and Ricardo Sanchez renewed their contracts. They are good pitchers. Peña has strong track records and Sanchez is a young, 27-year-old left-handed pitcher who throws fastballs. There are few good pitchers in the U.S. right now. There were other candidates, but they were not close to each other. Some pitchers signed a split contract with a Major League club, and one pitcher signed a contract with a Japanese team.
Last season, both foreign batters were sluggish.
Yonatan Perlasa, the new recruit, has been watching him since last summer. Although he has no major league experience, he has displayed remarkable performance in Triple-A. The San Diego Padres offered to invite him to this year’s spring camp, but he chose to go to Korea. Jose Pirella, who is from Venezuela and played for Samsung, gave me a good story about the KBO League.
Is there a change in the fielder’s position.
The result of the Australian spring camp will be decided by Choi Won-ho. Second baseman Jung Eun-won had training in the outfield defense in Miyazaki. An Chi-hong and Moon Hyun-bin can also play second basemen besides Jung Eun-won. Last year’s key players, Lee Do-yoon and Ha Joo-seok, will compete in shortstop positions. Ha has been training hard at Daejeon Stadium. He is originally a good defense player. He expects more stable play. Perlasa and Kim Kang-min are new faces in the outfield.
How do you plan the mound.
The starting lineup is comprised of two foreign pitchers and Moon Dong-ju. Kim Min-woo, a pitcher with 14 wins in 2021, was sluggish last year. He accompanied the U.S. this time. He will do personal training at the driveline. Jose Rosado, a former coach of the New York Mets bullpen this year, has a relationship with the driveline. He helped Kim Min-woo train this time. If his condition improves at the spring camp, he will be able to start four. Several pitchers compete for the fifth starter. There are many good prospects, including Kim Ki-jung, Kim Seo-hyun, Nam Ji-min and Hwang Jun-seo. Veteran Lee Tae-yang is a pitcher who can both start and save. The bullpen improved last season. I hope that pitchers who will be responsible for the second half of the game will operate stably this season.
There are many young pitchers throwing fastballs at Hanwha. Their growth will be important.
Japanese pitchers are very good these days. When I looked into them in Miyazaki, they found that their bodies became bigger than in the past. They are also doing more scientific training on their physical strength and pitching. Korean pitchers are in second place to Japan in physical condition. They are agonizing over systematic coaching. Although the team has installed various measuring equipment including trackman and Rhapsody, it is difficult to fully utilize the equipment currently installed in Daejeon Stadium. This is why the team is considering installing a pitching lab in its new stadium. Young players are now familiar with data such as revolution and movement. Strategy teams and coaching staff should answer players’ questions. We have been preparing such things.
After the 2022 season, he signed five FA players. This time, he recruited Jang Min-jae, an internal FA, and Ahn Chi-hong, who played for Lotte, and Kim Kang-min and Lee Jae-won, who were released through free agency in the second draft. He has increased his number of veterans for two consecutive years.
He also won eight consecutive games last year, but he couldn’t get out of it easily if he fell into a slump. One of the reasons is that there are only three fielders Chae Eun-sung, Noh Si-hwan and Jeong Eun-won who played the full season as the main players in the last three seasons. When the team is shaken, the role of a veteran is important. We are looking forward to Kim Kang-min’s role in this year’s Australian spring camp.
Hanwha has significantly increased its number of veterans when Kim Sung-keun was in office (2015-2017), and has quickly become a young team since then. Changes have been rapid.
For this reason, Carlos Subero has been in charge of the team since 2021. Several players have had new opportunities in the main league. He has given players the freedom to fail, and even when mistakes were made, he complimented them. However, he concluded that this period should not be prolonged. If veteran players occupied the position, it would not be easy to feel the importance of the position. What he paid the most attention to as a general manager last year was establishing a competitive system by position.
Third baseman Roh Si-hwan was the MVP among hitters in the league last year. How was that possible.
He is a player of good talent and character. He is polite but also has a desire for achievement. I saw an interview with Chae Eun-sung, who helped a lot. I saw Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-sung every morning at the weight training center in the away lodging. There were days when his expression was tired, but there were days when he was invisible.