“I want to become a catcher who the pitcher comes to directly.” The
Lotte Giants last November signed free agent Yoo Kang-nam for a total of 8 billion won over 4 years (down payment 4 billion won, annual salary 3.4 billion won, option 6 billion) was signed. And Yoo Kang-nam announced his departure as the ‘Lotte Man’ at the initiation ceremony held at the Lotte Hotel Busan on the 19th.
After the 2017 season ended, Lotte could not stop Kang Min-ho (Samsung Lions) from leaving, and the catcher continued to worry. Lotte set up a plan to fill Minho Kang’s void by nurturing Kim Joon-tae (KT Wiz), Ahn Joong-yeol (NC Dinos), Na Kyun-an, Jeong Bo-geun, and Kang Tae-yul. However, catcher training did not proceed as Lotte intended.
Lotte tried to fill the hole with Ji Ji-wan through the trade, but they failed to secure a single starting catcher until Kang Min-ho was dropped and Yoo Kang-nam was recruited. Inevitably, Lotte’s gaze naturally turned to the FA market, and outstanding catchers poured out just in time.
Lotte kept an eye on the catcher resources with the strong support of parent company Lotte Holdings, and succeeded in signing a contract after an active offensive of love for Yoo Kang-nam. Lotte revealed the background of the recruitment, saying, “We highly appreciated the value of Kang-Nam Yoo, which cannot be explained simply by batting average.”
Kangnam Yoo’s greatest strengths are ‘framing’ and ‘stamina’. Kangnam Yoo’s framing is evaluated as the best in the KBO League. He also wore a catcher’s mask for more than 100 games for eight consecutive years from the 2015 season, and last year, he played 1008⅓ innings, becoming the only catcher to reach 1000 innings.
Considering that there are many things to pay attention to due to the nature of the catcher position, his batting performance was not bad at all. Gangnam Yoo has played in 1030 KBO games, recording 796 hits, 103 homers, 447 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.267 OPS of 0.747. Although his record was broken last year, he recorded double-digit home runs for five consecutive seasons from 2017 while using Jamsil Stadium, the widest in the KBO League, as his home.
Yoo Kang-nam, who attended the initiation ceremony on the 19th, said, “I started playing baseball with a vague dream of becoming a professional baseball player when I was young, but I feel new after signing an FA contract and having a ceremony.” I think it is a new challenge for me. I will help Lotte in many ways so that it can achieve good results.”
When Yoo Kang-nam came to Lotte, he established a clear goal. He said, “I have many goals, but the goal for the pitcher is big.” I will try to become a reliable catcher.”
I was treated well and moved the team with a happy heart, but it is not that there are no regrets at all. It is that there are not many players who are close to Lotte and Busan. Yoo Kang-nam said, “I came to Busan, but I don’t know anyone around me. I moved and I felt a little lonely. So he is talking to an AI speaker,” making his inauguration ceremony a sea of laughter. 카지노사이트
After hearing Kang-Nam Yoo’s words, Seung-Min Koo, the managing director’s motivation for joining the company, made an appointment saying, “Let’s have a real meal together with (Kim) Won-Joong.” Yoo Kang-nam said, “I think I will have a meal while getting to know the players. And there is the sea in Busan, and there are times when I get mentally stressed during the season. I think drinking coffee while looking at the sea will be healing.”
Yoo Gang-nam goes on a hunt for two rabbits, including the batting index and the stolen base rate, which have recently dropped at Lotte. “My batting average has dropped over the past three years, but I have a feeling it’s going to rise again. I started exercising early, and I’m looking forward to this season,” he said. I will do my best to raise it,” he promised.