"Challenge to steal king? There's something more important."Lotte's Ma Huang and Coach Ko Young-min, I'll think twice
"Challenge to steal king? There's something more important."Lotte's Ma Huang and Coach Ko Young-min, I'll think twice
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There is something more important than raising the number of stolen bases and coveting the title."
Lotte Giants outfielder Hwang Sung-bin did not receive much attention until the opening of the 2024 season. While both batting and running bases suffered slumps in the previous year, competition for survival of the first division was not expected to be easy due to a number of competitors in the team's outfield.안전놀이터
Hwang, however, did not miss the opportunity given to him by the new head coach, Kim Tae-hyung. Since Hwang was appointed as a pinch runner specialist right after the season opened, he has gradually increased the number of times he has been listed in the starting lineup.
Hwang also refined his batting skills under the guidance of batting coach Lim Hoon. As Hwang corrected his habit of moving to the first base immediately after hitting the ball, his batting quality changed unexpectedly.
Hwang has a batting average of .320 (117 hits in 366 times at bat) with four homers, 26 RBIs and 51 steals in the 2024 season, and an OPS of .812. Even considering the strong winds of riding and pitching throughout the league, the batting average has "taken a step forward."
On top of that, Hwang has elevated his baselunning ability to the top of the league. While he recorded 19 steals and 17 failures in the 2022-2023 season, he recorded a successful run of 51 steals and 10 failures in the 2024 season, recording a success rate of 83.6 percent. After receiving coaching from Operations' base running coach Ko Young-min, he perfectly grasped his sense of "gam" at the starting timing.
Hwang's fast feet have become one of Lotte's major offensive options. He changed his short-handedness to long-distance shots, and showed off his unexpected long-distance shots at every turn, earning him the glorious nickname of the magical Hwang and the evil.
Lotte also gave high marks to Hwang for his performance in the 2024 season. The team gave Hwang 155 million won (13,815 dollars) in annual salary for the 2025 season. The increase was 103.9 percent from the previous year's salary.
After the end of the 2024 season, Hwang almost gave up rest throughout the winter and focused on preparing for the 2025 season. He sweated more than anyone else in order to continue his good spirits last year.
After the morning training on the second day of Lotte's Taiwan spring camp on the 26th, Hwang Sung-bin said, "I took a short break after the season ended last year, but I started exercising quickly. If I was just resting, I felt anxious," and said, "I have to try to perform better this year than last year."
The KBO League is expected to further maximize the strength of fast-footed players like Hwang Sung-bin with the implementation of the pitch clock in the 2025 season. Lotte fans hope that the Giants will have the first stolen base king in 30 years since Jeon Joon-ho (69 steals) in 1995.
Lotte has been participating in professional baseball since 1982 when the KBO League was launched, but Jeon Joon-ho was the only one who produced stolen bases in 1993 and 1995.
However, Hwang is not aiming to become the stealer king this year. While preparing for the 2025 season, there were other areas that I was paying more attention to in detail.
Hwang Seong-bin said, "I don't think about challenging the title at all. Rather, coach Ko Young-min told us to become a player who can steal at any time by leading, trailing, or even tying the game in the eighth inning, not an easy situation where we are leading 4-0. I am always playing with these words in mind."
"Personally, I like the number of stolen bases increasing, but I think he is a good player only when he can live a lot in a match and succeed in stealing. This is more important than challenging for the title," he said.