Head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop is looking high again.
LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop released his “Han” last year. He succeeded as a leader but failed to make it to the top, and left the field after collapsing at a baseball stadium, but took the helm again to achieve his dream of becoming the winning coach. He led his team to the championship for the first time in 29 years and became the winning coach, which he dreamed of.
“I had a very happy time. I had the happiest time in my baseball career,” manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said at LG’s New Year’s greeting ceremony. “I think that happiness is over now. It’s a new beginning again.”
After winning the championship, LG expressed its goal to create a dynasty. The team said it would continue its winning streak without being satisfied with unraveling the resentment it had held for nearly 30 years. However, the KBO League has failed to win the Korean Series title for several years in a row recently. The last team to win two consecutive games was Doosan, which won the 2015-2016 season.
Although many continue to be strong teams, the “dynasties” that remain at the top for several years is that difficult. The pressure to perform well as the defending champion can be a poison to others. “I’m sure he feels pressured, but I think confidence will prevail over him,” coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said.
“It’s about time that happened. I’ve had such experiences, and I’ll start the season stronger than last year,” Yeom said. “Of course, Ko Woo-suk is out, but the starting lineup, bullpen, and center line have all become stronger. If we take out the conditions that strong teams must have, we can start with more than 70 percent of the performance. I don’t think it’s lagging behind any other teams.”
Since taking office last year, Yeom has turned LG’s mound into a “pollination.” Having declared “two must-win groups,” which seems to be a bit overconfident starting from last season, Yeom Kyung-yeop has successfully built a solid bullpen that can call all of the first-team bullpen members the must-win groups, which has served as a critical foundation for LG’s victory in the Korean Series. LG’s bullpen has not been swayed even when players considered key players suffer slumps or injuries.
He emphasizes “experience of success.” Experience of success makes a player grow. Having established a strong bullpen by giving “experience of success” to inexperienced bullpen pitchers, Yeom himself has gained “experience of success” in his strategy to foster the mound. Based on this, he aims to continue his success this year.
Yeom Kyung-yeop picked “development” as the keyword for the 2024 season. Yeom’s theory is that a veteran also has room for growth. “Nurturing is important, but development of existing players is necessary for nurturing the players,” Yeom said. “As players such as Oh Ji-hwan, Kim Hyun-soo, Park Dong-won, Park Hae-min, Lim Chan-gyu, and Ham Deok-ju develop further, thoughts, culture, and training methods on baseball will continue to younger players. Then, development of baseball will naturally follow.”
Head coach Yeom said, “We will let Oh Ji-hwan try for .300 and 20 home runs, and Kim Hyun-soo will try for .300 and 100 RBIs, and Park Dong-won for .28 and 30 home runs. The most important thing for the coaching staff is to let Park Hae-min, who recently failed to reach .300, hit .300.” When veteran players in their 30s see their performance after bloody efforts, young players naturally follow suit.
Having already announced that he will further develop his strong performance, Yeom has set two goals for this year’s regular season. He is the No. 1 player in the regular season and the record of the most wins. “If I had greedily at the end of last year, I would have achieved the record of most wins, but I put it off first to make up for the part needed for the Korean Series. I put it off because I wanted to do it this year. It is not so good to do it all in a year,” he said with a smile. Last year, LG had 86 wins. It was one win shy of the record of most wins (87 wins) by a team in 2022. 마카오카지노
This year, he aims to set the record of the most wins that he saved last year. “My goal this year is to win the most wins and the first place. If I advance to the Korean Series like that, my second goal is to win the Korean Series championship for the second consecutive year,” he said strongly.