Director Lee Sung-yong's camp, which left early on the 4th, is systematized, not dualized, and there is no problem to worry about

Jan 19, 2025

Director SSG Landers Lee Sung-yong. Photo =SSG Landers

"Last year was a season with a lot of regrets and shortcomings."

SSG Landers coach Lee Sung-yong left for Florida four days earlier than the team. Coach Lee Sung-yong left for Vero Beach, Florida, the site of the first spring camp, through Incheon International Airport on the 19th. The main team of the team will leave on the 23rd. Coach Lee plans to enter the camp site a few days earlier, check the training site in advance, and start planning the season in earnest.

Coach Lee Sung-yong, who met with reporters before leaving the camp, first mentioned his regret for last season. SSG ended the regular season by dramatically tying for fifth, continuing a dramatic winning streak in the second half of last year. However, he failed to make the fall stage as he suffered a upset loss in the ranking match against KT Wiz over the ticket to the wild card final.

Director Lee Sung-yong had a moment of 'Mental breakdown' after the tiebreaker. I had a lot of regrets. Looking back on the last season, I think it was a year where I had a lot of regrets and shortcomings"I looked back on myself a lot, and I thought a lot about how to fill the gaps in the team." he said.

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Unfortunately, it ended, but there was also income. Infielders Ko Myung-joon, Park Ji-hwan, Jung Joon-jae, left-hander Han Doo-sol and closer Cho Byung-hyun. The depth has become more solid, discovering five of the players who were not the main players in the pre-season plan.

Director Lee Sung-yong also said "Just the growth of these five people is a huge resource. From this year on, I think the team will be much more solid if these players make the question marks more solid" expressed anticipation.

In the first camp, only six veteran fielders will train in Kagoshima, Japan, not the United States. After initial individual training, when the second-tier squad joins, they continue training together. After only the first camp will be held in Japan, he will join the second Okinawa camp. There are also voices of concern over the fact that only some players set up separate camps. The coach gave veteran players a choice, and that's the decision.

Director Lee Sung-yong said "A lot of people say it's dualization, but I think it's systematization. I gave a choice last year as well. As you can see from the list, they are all athletes who work out a lot. Even if we go to camp together this time, I was going to reduce my exercise a little because I'm old now. I think they can perform well enough if they create a good environment without getting injured. That's why I gave them the authority, and I respect their choices. I definitely believe it, and I don't think everyone is worried at all."

Director Lee Sung-yong throws the ball directly from the Kagoshima closing camp. Photo =SSG Landers

The first camp will be much more intense than usual. This is also the reason for excluding veteran players in their mid- to late 30s who need management programs rather than exercising a lot. "I'm going to use extra (extra training) a lot in this year's camp. I will increase the amount of practice a lot. This is why I take a lot of young friends. Veteran players such as Choi Jung and Han Yu-sum already practice a lot. Young ones have no choice but to do more if they want to win" is director Lee's idea.

Director Lee Soo-yong then said, "(Camp dualization) is not "One Team", but I also value "One Team". But it might be a little different from that. All of them have been professional for more than 10 years, but they are not worried at all. He expressed his strong faith in the players.

With the absence of veteran fielders, a lot more new players joined the first camp. It is a tremendous motivation for rookie players to camp in front of the first-team coach. Among the rookies who joined this year, three were named, including Lee Yul-ye, Shin Ji-hwan and Cheon Beom-seok.

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Coach Lee Sung-yong also said, `As you can see from the camp list, some players have never been able to go (to the first-team camp). I think training in front of the director in person is a very good motivation for young people," he predicted positively.

The biggest concern is catcher and outfielder. This season, the goal is to reduce the proportion of the main catcher Lee Ji-young's participation and to use as many young catchers as possible, including Cho Hyung-woo and Shin Bum-soo. The same goes for the outfield. Existing infielders such as Kim Sung-min, Lee Jung-beom, and Choi Jun-woo are trying to equip themselves with strong depth enough to prepare for both outfield defense and defense.

SSG will start its regular season schedule with the home opener against the Doosan Bears on March 22. Coach Lee Sung-yong, the final season of his two-year contract, is also determined to perform well from the beginning.

Lee believes in the players. If it creates a good environment and atmosphere and allows players to run and play, I think the performance and development will naturally follow. Looking at our match sheet, they met Doosan, Lotte, and Kiwoom in order. My goal is to make my condition come up from March. Last year, we had a hard time in August, but I think that's about stamina. (Park) Sung-han and (Choi) Ji-hoon were injured. So I'm thinking about that" he said.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.