Kia’s Na Sung-beom is looking forward to a two-hitter against Ryu Hyun-jin, who is returning to Hanwha after a 12-year absence.
Despite being just two years apart in age, Na and Ryu have never met in the professional ranks. Na joined NC in 2012 after graduating from Yonsei University and made his first team debut the following year. Ryu played for Hanwha until 2012 before crossing the Pacific Ocean in 2013 to start his big league career in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform.
“I’ve only seen him on TV, but when I made my professional debut, he moved to the LA Dodgers, so I never played against him,” said Na Sung-beom when asked about Ryu Hyun-jin at the Kin Stadium in Okinawa, Japan.
“I thought I would meet him someday (in the KBO). It’s just a little bit earlier,” he said, adding, “The world of competition is cold. I will prepare well so that I can play a good game,” he said.
He was limited to 58 games last year due to calf and thigh injuries. Despite that, he batted .222 with 81 hits, 18 home runs, 57 RBIs, 51 runs scored, 토토사이트 and a 1.098 OPS. He would have had a career-high season if it weren’t for the injury list.
“The most important thing is not to get injured. If I don’t get injured, the record will come out and I can play,” he emphasized.
“Last year, not only me but many players were injured, which weakened the team’s strength, but now all the players are playing well without injuries. I hope all the players will stay injury-free throughout the season,” he added. Na invested a lot of time and effort in lower body strengthening training and stretching last winter to prevent injuries.
Despite missing a lot of games due to injury, his bat has been hot.
What was the secret? “I didn’t make any special changes. When I had a calf injury, I watched the TV broadcast and tried to improve my timing with the idea that I was batting,” he says.
Kia is one of the favorites to win the title this season, along with LG and KT. Na Sung-beom, who served as the team’s captain this season, said, “All the players are doing their best to prepare themselves without thinking about external evaluations. We just need to do what we’ve always done, and if we don’t get injured, we’ll do well.”
Lee Bum-ho, the KBO’s first manager born in the 1980s, seeks elder brother leadership. “My concept is to be comfortable with the players. I need to be able to get along with the players and talk to them, so I can understand their current condition,” he laughs.
“They don’t find it difficult. They ask me to look at their posture when they hit. The don’t treat me differently because I’m the coach. I talk to them as usual. They call me manager instead of coach, but the title doesn’t mean anything,” he added.
In response,
Na Sung-beom said, “When I first came to KIA, the manager was the hitting coach, and he helped me a lot for two years. It helped me adapt to the team. Usually, it’s not easy for a player to approach the manager, but he just approached me casually and joked with me without any pretense. He made us feel comfortable, just like he did when he was the hitting coach, so we felt comfortable approaching him.”
“He makes it easy for the players, and the more he does that, the better we have to be. I haven’t told the players anything, but I think they know what to do. I’m sure I’ll be criticized if there’s a player who does something out of the ordinary, but we’re training well without that player yet.”
Na Sung-beom, 파워볼사이트 who had different styles of managers after his professional debut, said, “I needed a lot of training when I switched from pitcher to hitter after my professional debut. At that time, I met coach Kim Kyung-moon, who helped me a lot. I feel blessed to have him,” he smiled.
He is also satisfied with the second spring training camp in Okinawa, Japan. “The facilities are good, and I’m grateful to the club for helping me focus on baseball,” said Na.