The spring camps of each team preparing for the 2023 KBO League, scattered to Arizona, Guam, Okinawa, and Sydney, are heating up training by turning three turns. The Samsung Lions, who are having their spring camp in Okinawa, also played their first practice game against Nippon Ham, a Japanese professional baseball team. It’s like entering full-scale combat mode.
Although there is a saying, “Rookies cannot be trusted yet,” the news of newcomers heard frequently in spring camp raises expectations for their performance this season. Although there was an unfortunate situation where Kim Seo-hyun, wearing an eagle uniform with a down payment of 500 million won, was punished by suspension of training for 3 days due to inappropriate SNS and bowed her head with a public apology…
A total of 23 2023 newcomers accompanied to the first group spring camp. This is 21% of the 110 rookies who joined this year. SSG Landers and KT Wiz each have five players, while Samsung Lions have none.
In addition, in the 2023 player registration, 53 new players, 48% of all new players, account for 9% of all affiliated players.
Although the registration rate is close to 50%, it is a family honor to be listed as a registered player for the year as a rookie. This alone means that the value of being able to play an active part in the first team has been recognized.
Among the rookies who participated in the first team spring camp, Noh Kyung-eun (SSG) was expected to undergo gallbladder removal surgery just before the start of the spring camp, so all 22 players except for infielder Kim Gun-woong were registered for the first team.
As expected, the newcomers nominated in the first round are Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha) Yoon Young-cheol (KIA) Shin Young-woo (NC), Lee Ro-un (SSG), Kim Gun-hee (Kiwoom) Lee Ho-seong (Samsung) Choi Jun-ho (Doosan) Kim Jeong-woon (kt, Lee Sang pitcher) and infielder Kim Min-seok. (Lotte) and catcher Kim Beom-seok (LG) all registered. It means that it was evaluated with immediate power.
Along with this, many rookies who were nominated in the upper rounds generally joined.
In the midst of this, pitcher Kim Yu-seong, who withdrew his first nomination from the NC Dinos in 2021 due to a history of school violence, was registered as a newcomer to the Doosan Bears, and Dankook University infielder Yoo Hyun-in메이저사이트(70th rank) and Dong-eui University catcher Yoon Jun-ho (73rd rank), who made a name for themselves in the strongest baseball. ) drew attention by being named as 2023 KBO registered players in kt wiz and Doosan, respectively, despite being ranked second.
It is of interest to see if any of them will be able to come up with a newcomer who can be named in the starting lineup from the opening game.
In the 2022 season, Kim Do-young (KIA), who drew attention by recording 2 home runs and 5 RBIs in the demonstration game as a super rookie (19 hits in 44 at-bats, batting average 0.432), became the leadoff third baseman, and Samsung Lee Jae-hyun 7 times. As a third baseman, Park Chan-hyeok of Kiwoom enjoyed the honor of starting the opening game as a ninth batter and first baseman. Of the 50 rookies registered last year, only three were included in the starting lineup for the opening game.
However, their first debut match was different from the demonstration game. Perhaps it was because Kim Do-yeong was under too much pressure due to excessive expectations from those around him, he recorded no hits in 4 at-bats and 5 consecutive games without a hit, but recorded his first hit in 21 at-bats in 6 games.
On the other hand, Park Chan-hyuk had a left-handed hit in his first at-bat and a heavy hit in his second at-bat, and Lee Jae-hyun also reported a heavy hit in his first at-bat before his debut, creating a contrast.
It is expected that it will be difficult again this year to see a rookie as a starter for the opening game. It has not been since Kang Sang-soo (Lotte) in 1994 that a rookie started as a starter in the opening game. But the other side has plenty of potential.
It remains to be seen who will make the Opening Day lineup and record the first hit of glory.