"'I thought I should stop playing baseball.'" First team stage returned after 720 days, stolen base king LG? There was a ready sniper
Sep 11, 2024
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It has been 10 years since I entered professional baseball with the first nomination in 2015.
The long-awaited opportunity came. Lotte Giants' Kang Tae-yul (28) clenched his teeth.
It's been a long time since the head coach, the general manager, and even the team logo have changed. However, Kang Tae-yul's experience in the first team is only 93 at-bats in 58 games. It was a difficult time to handle, even considering that he is a catcher with a slow growth rate and long positional life.
Lotte won 2-1 against LG in Jamsil on the 10th after a bloody battle in the 10th inning.
Kang Tae-yul had a chance to play as the main catcher Yoo Kang-nam was out for the season due to a knee injury and Cho In-geun was recently excluded from the first team. On September 7, the match against Busan SSG Landers was Kang Tae-yul's first return to the first division in 720 days after the match against Suwon KT Wiz on September 18, 2022.
Since former coach Huh Moon-hoi's days, he has drawn attention as a defensive catcher with short pop time (time it takes to catch the ball and throw it to second base). However, he was hampered by the disappointing hit. With the first nomination Son Sung-bin joining in 2022, the time given to Kang Tae-yul seemed to be shorter.
In this season's Futures League, he was also rarely able to play due to new players such as Baekdu Mountain and Seo Dong-wook. He has a batting average of 295 (13 hits in 44 at-bats) with one home run and three RBIs. Still, as a result of consistent efforts, I got a chance again.
It was a difficult victory for closer Kim Won-joong, who was in charge of multi-innings in the 9th to 10th innings. In particular, Kang Tae-yul's shot at LG pinch runner Choi Seung-min's second base steal in the bottom of the 10th inning with one out and one on the first base sealed the game.
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LG succeeded in stealing three bases with the bases loaded against the Hanwha Eagles on the 8th. But Kang Tae-yul "I wasn't nervous. I thought, 'Please run.' It's because I'm most confident in stopping stolen bases. I'm happy to see a good result."
Since September's entry expansion, Lotte has been operating a three-catcher system. Literally, it actively utilizes pinch-hitters and pinch-runners as an all-out mode. As he is in the first team at this time, there are also expectations for his participation.
"It's been two years since I joined the first team. I thought a lot about it. There are a lot of good catchers on our team, and I thought, "Should I stop playing baseball?" Still, thanks to many people helping me not to give up, I'm holding out until now. As much as I've prepared hard, I'm just thinking of proving my worth when I come up like this."
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Closing Kim Won-joong "(Kang) Tae-yul worked with me for the first time in a long time, and he's a catcher with a good heart. Strong shoulders, because I know well, just the timing?If you don't play P, Tae-yul will catch you, so I threw it with that belief. I have confidence that I will block him even if he throws a fork ball or that he will hold the runner even if he runs" he explained.
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"Whether it's a hit or a defense, I always lacked confidence and lacked, but this time it feels different. Every game is really important right now. I want to help the team win even a little bit. Autumn baseball, I really want to go there."
lunarfly@sportschosun.com
