Yoon Dong-hee (20) has been one of the Lotte Giants' biggest hits this season. He will enter the 2024 season with a new determination as the Lotte Giants begin a new chapter.
"I will definitely show that 'this spot is mine' so that other players don't think, 'If I go over there, I'll do better,'" Yoon told Star News at Sangdong Baseball Stadium in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, where Lotte recently held its final training session.
After graduating from Yatapgo, Yoon joined Lotte in 2022, making just four appearances for the first team in his first season (batting .154). However, he showed promise in the Futures League, hitting .310 with six home runs and an OPS of 0.839 in 77 games. An infielder at the time of his signing, he worked his way up to the outfield, starting in center field and working his way up to the outfield.
Although he didn't make the opening roster this season, he was called up on April 23 and earned a regular spot in mid-May. Quickly adjusting to the first team, Yoon finished the first half of the season with a .321 batting average. He continued to hit well, eventually earning a spot on the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games squad as a replacement for Lee Yi-ri (KIA), where he batted .435 (10-for-23) in six games, winning a gold medal and earning a special exemption from military service. In 107 games this year, Yoon finished with a .287 batting average with two home runs, 41 RBIs, three doubles and a .687 OPS.
"When you look at it from the outside, you say, 'This is a great season. You say, 'What a lucky season. But for me, there were twists and turns in every situation," he said of his season. "Even if I think about it, this year worked out so ridiculously well. I think it was a reward for my struggles as an amateur and last year in the second team. There are so many things I felt that I can't talk about." "It's been a struggle, but you can't think of it as a struggle. You have to be grateful for the opportunity you've been given."
His transition to the outfield was also successful. This year, Yoon played primarily in right field (716⅓ innings), but also gained experience in left field (23⅓ innings) and center field (69⅓ innings). "When I first moved to the outfield, I had some regrets, and I thought I could do well if I went back to the infield," he said. "After starting this season, I became an outfielder. I don't feel comfortable in the infield glove anymore, and I don't feel comfortable dropping the glove (in the warmup) and getting ready. I think I've adjusted well to the outfield," he laughed. "I think I need more stability, and I need to work on my throwing," he said, adding, "I went to the national team and asked (Choi) Won-joon and (Kang) Baek-ho a lot about defense, so I applied what I learned, and it was a good balance."
After a season full of twists and turns, Yoon Dong-hee will now prepare for next season with a new manager. Kim Tae-hyung (56), who took over on July 20, boasts a career record of 645 wins and three Korean Series titles. At his inaugural press conference, he was relaxed and charismatic.
In particular, Kim had a warning for the younger players, including Yoon Dong-hee and Kim Min-seok (19). He said, "What I always want to tell the players who were backups and then played in the first team is that they only have the idea that they will do better the next year. Even when I was at Doosan, I talked to some of the players and I told them that it's an absolute illusion to think, 'I'm going to be better than this next year,'" he said. "They (the younger players) need to be really prepared," he added.
"I think the coach's words were more of a warning than a warning, and I was aware of that, and I thought I had to prepare well, but when he said it officially, I thought, 'This is really important,' and I had to prepare well for the winter," said Yoon Dong-hee. 토토사이트
To that end, Yoon has been working hard on his finishing drills. "I hit four boxes of tee batting," he said, "and I changed my batting form a little bit to compensate for the problems when it didn't work, but as I did so, mine gradually disappeared. I was so pissed off and didn't like it, so that's what I did," he confessed. "When the coach said, 'Don't think you'll be good next year,' I think he was telling me that I shouldn't be so greedy," she continued.
Yoon Dong-hee is in the recovery group in the first turn of Lotte's final training session, which started on the 25th. This is the stage where she is preparing for the start of the season while shaking off the fatigue that accumulated during the season. Nevertheless, she is showing her competitive spirit and increasing the amount of practice from the beginning. That's a lot of determination.
Yoon is looking forward to the new coaching regime. "Players shine when the team does well, but this year we were very disappointed," he said. "With a good coach, we will do well next year," he added. "I will prepare well with the new coach and work hard and sweat to fulfill my role next year," he said.