The Lotte Giants are going back to basics. Newly appointed fielding coach Kim Min-ho is redefining the way the team looks at defense. He’s taking the team back to the basics of baseball and getting them back on track.
“There was a lot of feeling of weakness,” he says of Lotte, adding, “If we do the basics well, if the basics are in place, our team will be recognized as a good defensive team. If you get out what you can get out, it’s a nice play. But if you can’t handle the balls that can be put out, you become a weak team and a weak team. Lotte hasn’t been able to do this,” he said in a sobering diagnosis of the team’s past.
Kim Tae-hyung also expressed his disappointment with LOTTE’s defense upon his arrival. He diagnosed the defense as the reason why the team was not solid and the reason why they could not rise to a higher level. This year, Lotte made 103 errors. That’s tied for third in fewest errors. But in reality, Lotte’s defense was narrow and there were many unseen and unrecorded errors. They lacked detail and finesse. Their Defensive Efficiency Ratio (DER) was .666, last in the league. They missed balls that were bound to be missed, and they missed balls that were catchable. The more games you give up defensively in the regular season, let alone the short season, the weaker your team will be.
Last year’s Lotte team tried to improve their defense in spring training by increasing the amount of defensive drills, but the process didn’t pay off. 바카라사이트 That’s why coach Kim Tae-hyung turned to Kim Min-ho for help.
Kim has a reputation as a defensive trainer with several clubs under his belt.
He is able to make the boring and repetitive drills of defense fun, interesting, and energetic for the players. Coach Kim’s voice was booming in the Sangdong Stadium. The players followed suit and raised their decibels. Every day, he plays pogo in the team defense drills, and after the team drills, he leads extra defense drills with different personnel every day.
In an interview on the 3rd, he said, “The players are following along. There is a lot of fighting and the players’ mood seems to be revitalized. I want to give them a lot of energy, and I think they have a lot of energy.” “Actually, I tried to make them united and organized. I thought it would take time, but the players have been very supportive, so it’s been a quick process,” he said.
He knows better than anyone that it’s not an easy or straightforward process. It can be even harder for professional athletes who already have a certain attitude. However, Coach Minho Kim doesn’t let his energy level drop and explains things to his players. He gets close to the players, gets down to their level, and transmits his energy to get them excited about the defense.
Go Seung-min, who is working on his infield training again
“I’m working on the basics again with a lot of determination. I’m really starting from scratch, from the basic steps to the position of the glove,” he said, explaining, “I think the hardest thing is to get the basics right again. It’s hard to do something you think is easy.”
“It’s fun to learn and I’m trying to do better by following it well,” adding, “In addition to footwork, he also teaches me basic steps, so I’ve been having a lot of fun playing defense lately. Usually, I don’t like batting, but I’m interested in defense, so I want to get better at the defensive part,” he laughed.
Coach Kim Min-ho’s eye-level training is all about finding the basics and efficiency of defense. Considering how Lotte shot themselves in the foot with invisible mistakes this year, they need to hit the “refresh” button completely. Lotte is having more fun with this process in their final camp.