The opening is just around the corner, and Lotte Giants have faced a heart-wrenching March due to the main player's injury.
This is the time when the spring camp is over and the exhibition game is just around the corner. Injured players often come out naturally while waiting for the opening of the spring camp and raising their sense of play.
Lotte will return to Korea via Incheon International Airport on May 5. However, according to the report by Sports Chosun, Ko Seung-min, the main second baseman and key player of the team, left the camp in Miyazaki, Japan, earlier than scheduled due to unexpected injury.
This is due to the injury he suffered while running on the base. After hitting a double in the top of the sixth inning against Chiba Lotte in the Miyazaki Kuchun League on January 1, he fractured his ankle while stepping on the base. He immediately replaced Lee Ho-joon. He missed the game against the Doosan Bears on Wednesday.
What kind of situation is Ko Seung-min's ankle? Fortunately, he avoided fatal injuries such as ligament rupture. There is still discomfort caused by sprains.
Ko Seung-min has been transferred to the Ijima Osteopathic Center in Yokohama, Japan, which is called a sacred place for rehabilitation of professional baseball. It is a place where he has established close ties with the Lotte team, with Jeon Joon-woo, Jung Hoon and Roh Jin-hyuk visiting last year. In addition to the realistic aspect that there are not enough flights to return to Busan, it is a consideration for players to rest and treat as comfortably as possible.
Lotte had been agonized over repeated injuries of its main players throughout the last season. Before the exhibition game, Kim Min-seok (currently Doosan Bears) and Han Dong-hee (currently Han Dong-hee) were injured in the first game, while Jeon Joon-woo, Jung Hoon, Barnes and Son Ho-young were also out due to injuries in succession during the season. Choi and Yoo Kang-nam were even out for the season due to surgery during the season. The resulting power vacuum eventually led to the humiliation of being eliminated from the fall baseball league for the seventh consecutive year.
Lotte should not be able to leave the team right before the season's opening for the second consecutive year. Lotte is preparing for the new season in such a desperate manner that Shin Yoo-yeol, head of Lotte Group's Future Growth Division, is spearheading the exchange game with Chiba Lotte, while sending a message, "Please thoroughly prepare to play baseball in fall this year." A large number of training teams have also been beefed up during the off-season to systematically manage the injury.
If Ko Seung-min is excluded, there will be a lot of gaps in his capability. Ko is a batter at the center of Lotte's lineup, which was rebuilt in a year along with Hwang Sung-bin, Son Ho-young, Yoon Dong-hee and Na Seung-yeop. Despite his tall height of 1 meter 89, he is agile and armed with strong shoulders.
Last year, he broke the shell with a batting average of 388-ri, 14 homers, 87 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.834. He is expected to form a table setter with "Ma Huang" Hwang Sung-bin this year due to his excellent ability to hit the ball and his ability to lead the atmosphere with explosive energy.
Jeon Min-jae, who was acquired through a trade last year, is likely to replace Ko Seung-min. During this spring camp, Lotte coach Kim Tae-hyung used Jeon Min-jae on both second and third bases in addition to shortstop, his main position, and checked his utilization as a utility man. Han Tae-yang and Lee Ho-joon, who competed in the camp, or Choi Hang, who played in many games as a second baseman last season, are also potential candidates.
Although it is not a serious injury, the Lotte club will watch the progress as the speed of recovery is not guaranteed. It is unclear whether he will be able to play in the exhibition game. There will be no problem playing in the opening game. 온라인바카라
Lotte returned to Korea early after Choi Jun-yong, a must-winner, was found to have ligament damage in his elbow during the first camp in Taiwan. He plans to return to Korea in April.
In addition to Lotte, pitcher Kim Moo-shin was out for the season due to an elbow injury, while Kim Young-woong and Denny Reyes also returned home early for treatment due to injuries. LG Twins' "5.2 billion FA" Jang Hyun-sik, and SSG's Mitch White and Ha Jae-hoon left camp earlier than scheduled.
Lotte completed its Miyazaki "Kuchun League" schedule after the game against Doosan Bears. After taking a day off on Thursday, the team will return to Incheon International Airport on Wednesday after training on Friday.