"7 consecutive years of PS frustration" Lotte's schedule is tight again this year, coach Kim Tae-hyung said, "We will show much better performance than last year."

"7 consecutive years of PS frustration" Lotte's schedule is tight again this year, coach Kim Tae-hyung said, "We will show much better performance than last year."

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The Lotte Giants left for Tainan, Taiwan via Incheon International Airport on Monday. The spring camp, which will involve a total of 41 players including Kim Tae-hyung, 13 coaching staff and 20 pitchers, five catchers, nine infielders and seven outfielders, will run through March 21, and will move to Miyazaki, Japan, for the second camp from May 22.먹튀검증

While Lotte has included four players, including Park Tae-hyun, the first round player in the 2025 rookie draft, as well as Park Se-hyun, Park Geon-woo, and Park Jae-yeop, veteran players such as Roh Jin-hyuk and Kim Min-sung, who are "5 billion shortstop," have not been named. However, Roh and Kim Min-sung are highly experienced players, so if they steadily prepare for the season in the second division, they can seek to join the second spring camp. Manager Kim Tae-hyung has also left open the possibility.

"Neither (Kim) Minsung nor (Roh) Jinhyuk could find a place in the competition last year. Young players have settled down. However, as the two players are highly experienced, there are times when it is absolutely necessary. Rather than going to the camp together, we can slowly and fully physicalize in the second camp. We will see them again in the second spring camp," Kim said.

Lotte failed to strengthen its capacity as it went all-in to protect its "house rabbit" Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong this winter. However, its performance this season is better than last year's. The reason is that players who had been injured will come back one by one. Yoo Kang-nam, who was out of the lineup at the beginning of this season as he underwent knee surgery, is set to return to the team. Choi Joon-yong, who can play as a must-win group if he does not get injured, and Ko Seung-min, a key second baseman, will also prepare for the 2025 season through this camp.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "In case of Ko Seung-min, I heard it's okay. Slow down will suffice for Yoo. (Choi) Jun-yong should take a look. I'm not sure yet whether he will be able to see the pace in time for the opening game. But I don't think there's anything wrong with Ko Seung-min." Hence, Yoo Kang-nam and Ko will likely join the opening game unless there are special variables, and Choi Jun-yong will also be able to see them on the mound immediately for the first team if he can overcome his long hiatus.

Lotte has to find four or five starting pitchers in this camp. Lotte had difficulty in managing the starting rotation last year, as Na Kyun-an was away due to personal issues. Asked about "homework for spring camp," the head coach replied, "The only starting pitchers are two foreign pitchers and (Park) Sewoong. I think Sewoong will be better this year than last year. And we are considering (Kim) Jinwook, Na Kyun-an, Han Hyun-hee, and Park Jun-woo, who were good last year."

Until manager Kim Tae-hyung took office, Lotte did not train much in the camp. However, since the inauguration of the team's great general last year, Lotte has significantly increased its training capacity. Notably, Lotte also held a defense-enhancing camp in Miyazaki, Japan, to strengthen its defense capabilities after the 2024 season. For now, Lotte plans to engage in quite a few training sessions in this spring camp as well.

Coach Kim Tae-hyung said, "We took a lot of training from the defense camp, but what was a little disappointing was that Ko Seung-min and (Son) Ho-young fell out and (B) Seung-yeop joined the national team. It was a pity that I couldn't do it at a time when I had to prepare to take something further apart from the amount of practice. But I think they will take care of themselves now," adding, "I told them to take their schedules tight for this camp as well. I just told them not to push them too hard."

Lotte failed to make it to the postseason last year, failing to advance to the postseason for the seventh consecutive year. However, it is different this year. Manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "We really have to go to autumn. Last year, we had an exhibition game and didn't have a payoff. So when the ranking dropped sharply, we placed all the players under the same conditions and tried under pressure. It was a bit chaotic on the part of the pitcher, but the fielders settled down after the trade. Based on calculations, it looks tight to make it to the top five, but please look forward to it. We will show you a much better performance than last year."