This season, command towers are getting more attention than ever. This is because there are as many as four teams under the leadership of the new head coach, and there are three coaches whose contracts expire at the end of this season.
Outstanding New Managers
Among the new head coaches, the one who receives the most spotlight is Lee Seung-yeop, who leads the Doosan Bears.
Coach Lee was called the ‘national hitter’ during his active career and reigned as the best hitter in the KBO League. After his retirement, he did not take leadership lessons, but Doosan entrusted the team, saying, “We formed a consensus on coach Lee Seung-yeop’s philosophy and vision as a leader, not the value of his name.”
The start is smooth.
Coach Lee, who revived Doosan’s track and field team, is recording 6 wins and 5 losses until the 14th. This is not a bad start considering that foreign pitcher Dylan Pyle has yet to debut due to an injury.
Coach Lee said, “When you run a long race, various situations and results come out, so I always try to start anew without going in and out.” It will get better,” he predicted.
Coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop, who leads the LG Twins, is also light on his early steps.
Coach Yeom, who previously coached Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom) and SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers), is playing the season as a manager in three years.
LG, led by manager Yeom, is pressuring the opponent with ‘running baseball’. LG recorded 25 stolen bases in 12 games this season. It is an overwhelming first place even compared to Doosan’s 10 stolen bases in second place.
In addition, LG, which has clearly applied the color of manager Yeom, harmonizes with the team batting average (0.307), is running in second place alone (8 wins and 4 losses).
NC Dinos coach Kang In-kwon, who was in his first year as a regular manager, also opened a pleasant start.
Manager Kang, who led the team as an acting manager during the last season, became the official manager in the evaluation of ‘prepared leader’. NC, which is in third place (7 wins and 5 losses), is also raising expectations for this season.
Not all new commanders are smiling. Park Jin-man, head coach of the Samsung Lions, who started the season as an official manager after serving as an acting coach last year, is off to a rough start this year. Samsung was pushed back to 8th place (4 wins and 7 losses) from the beginning.
Recently, he suffered a bad report from the beginning, falling into a pit of 6 consecutive losses.
fateful last season
Lotte Giants coach Larry Sutton and Hanwha Eagles coach Carlos Subero both have their contracts expire at the end of this season.
Recalling that they did not perform well during the contract period, the results of this season can have a great impact on their fate.
Unfortunately, both Sutton and Subero are off to a shaky start.
Hanwha, who received expectations for a changed appearance by taking first place in the demonstration game, fell to the bottom with the opening of this year. The sense of collapse is growing as the game repeatedly collapses at the decisive moment even after fighting well.
Lotte also failed to show anything like this and fell behind in 7th place (4 wins and 6 losses).
Director Lee Kang-cheol, who gave KT Wiz its first integrated championship in 2021, is also the last year of the contract this year.
This season, while key players such as Bae Jeong-dae, Kim Min-soo, and Joo-kwon left due to injuries one after another, they are holding on to 5th place (4 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses).
KIA Tigers coach Kim Jong-guk, who is in his second season as a command tower, also starts in ‘endurance mode’. KIA suffered a blow from the start of the season as Na Seong-beom and Kim Do-young suffered consecutive injuries. The ranking fell to 9th place (3 wins and 6 losses), and the shoulders became heavy.메이저놀이터
SSG Landers coach Kim Won-hyung, who received a 3-year contract renewal gift with winning the ‘Wire-to-Wire’ last year, is starting this season with a solo 1st place (8 wins and 2 losses).
Kiwoom Heroes coach Hong Won-ki, who also succeeded in renewing the contract for 3 years after finishing runner-up in the Korean Series last year, is not speeding up with 6th place (5 wins and 6 losses).