Lee Soong-yong “Being a veteran is both a strength and a weakness…

 Last winter, when there was a cold wave, condolence wreaths were placed in a row in the parking lot at the north gate of SSG Landers Field in Incheon. When the coach who led the combined championship in the 2022 season was fired after the end of the 2023 season and Kim Kang-min (41), a '23-year one-club man', left the team, fans placed wreaths of condolence with the angry phrase 'Rest in peace to Incheon baseball'. sent to protest.

Overall win in the 2022 season, and third place in the 2023 season. Since it wasn't a bad score, it was a change that confused those who were watching. However, the club chose to change with perseverance. The signal was the appointment of coach Lee Soong-yong (52). The club revealed the background of the appointment as “a person who is optimized for the direction the team wants to go” (SG general manager Kim Seong-yong). Many of the key players are in their mid-30s and were selected as the right people to bring about a generational change at SG, which has many veteran players. This is a task that coach Lee Soong-yong, who served as the founding hitting coach of the KT Wiz and then general manager and general manager of training, must solve this season.

Coach Lee, who met at SSG Landers Field on the 22nd, expressed his ambition to successfully achieve a generational change in SSG and improve the performance by giving appropriate 'rest' to veterans and a lot of 'training' to young players.

From Director Lee's perspective, SSG's strengths and weaknesses are 'veterans'. Since there are many veterans with a certain level of skill, the season can continue smoothly, but on the contrary, the opportunities for young players are reduced accordingly. Also, at the end of the season, the veterans' stamina decreases, causing a power leak. In fact, SSG fought with the LG Twins for the lead until June of last season, but ended up finishing the season in third place. Coach Lee said, “The theme for veterans is rest. Even considering his active years, age was an unavoidable factor in playing 144 games. “We are trying to utilize young players while the veterans are resting,” he said.

First, regarding the direction of pitcher management, he stated, “We will not try to have a bullpen pitcher pitch in three consecutive games in the first half of the year.” Manager Lee said, “From the time I had a difficult discussion with the pitching coach and the front office, I firmly said that I would not allow (a bullpen pitcher) to throw three consecutive pitches in the first half of the season. However, this may change if the battle for rankings intensifies in the second half of the year.” Pitcher management plans to be left to the newly joined head coach Song Shin-young and pitching coach Bae Young-soo. Coach Lee said, “It is right for the coach to set the big picture and for the coaches to set the color. He said, “We exchange many opinions with coach Bae Young-soo, assuming various situations.”

He also expressed his stance toward veteran hitters, saying, “I will respect the player’s wishes as much as possible.” Coach Lee said, “I try to give full authority to veteran players. If the player does not think practice is important, he may play in the game without practice. “I plan to listen to all of the players’ opinions because each player knows best how to maintain their skills,” he emphasized.

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