• Coach Bae Young-soo made a direct request to the club
• 2017 1st nomination… Unable to meet expectations
• Pay attention to whether they will wash away their sluggish performance and unlock their potential. While the

professional baseball Lotte Giants are preparing for the new season in spring camp, fireballer Yoon Seong-bin (24, photo), a ‘perennial prospect’, is included in the training list for the first time in three years, attracting attention.

Lotte announced on the 29th that it will hold a spring camp for the 2023 season from the 1st of next month to the 35th. The camp is divided into three parts. First, on the 1st of next month, they will move to Guam, USA, and will undergo physical strength and technical training for 19 days. After that, they move to Japan and conduct the second and third training sessions in Ishigaki Island and Okinawa, respectively.

The camp roster announced by Lotte included 47 players and 13 coaches. The team, led by captain Ahn Chi-hong, included 21 pitchers, 12 infielders, 10 outfielders, and 4 catchers.

This camp included all of the “FA trio” Yoo Gang-nam, Noh Jin-hyuk, and Han Hyun-hee, who wore Lotte uniforms through Stove League. In addition, veteran pitcher Cha Woo-chan, Shin Jeong-rak, Kim Sang-soo, Yoon Myeong-jun, and outfielder Ahn Kwon-soo, who joined Lotte through a transfer after last season, also obtained tickets to the camp. Among the rookies, infielder Kim Min-seok and left-handed pitcher Lee Tae-yeon, who were selected in the first round of last year’s rookie draft, were named.

With key players and top rookies included in the camp roster as expected, Sungbin Yoon’s joining draws attention. Sungbin Yoon will participate in the spring camp for the first time in 3 years since 2020. It is known that there was a special request from pitching coach Bae Young-soo in the background. An official from Lotte said, “Coach Bae, who highly evaluated Yoon Seong-bin’s potential, consulted with the club.” “We believe the club has sufficient growth potential. As much as he was brought to the 1st nomination, he will also fulfill his responsibility as a player.” 먹튀검증

Yoon Seong-bin, who wore a Lotte uniform as the first nomination in 2017, received great expectations as a ‘special top prospect’ following the lineage of Lotte’s right-handed ace even at the time of joining. There were many evaluations that the fastball with a maximum speed of 150 km/h, which is thrown down from a tall man of 197 cm, would work well on the stage of the first team even right away.

However, in his first year with the club, he focused only on rehabilitation due to his shoulder injury, and after that, he suffered from sluggishness. In 2019, he was considered a candidate for the 5th selection ahead of the season, but he went down to the 2nd team after only one game and failed to step into the 1st team. He was scheduled to finish his military service as an active duty soldier after the 2021 season, but he also had the misfortune of leaving the training center early for health reasons. Last year, he played 16 games in the Futures League and threw 20 and ⅓ innings, leaving 2 losses without a win and a 9.74 ERA.

Even in this situation, Lotte’s inclusion of Yoon Seong-bin in the spring camp roster is interpreted as a result of the club’s concerns. This is because Lotte does not see any native starting pitchers other than Park Se-woong, the “glasses ace”, and Han Hyun-hee, who can be used in all weathers. In Lotte, Lee In-bok, who was active as the 4th starter last year and posted 9 wins (9 losses), recently underwent elbow surgery and was excluded from the camp roster. In a situation where Na Kyun-an, Seo Jun-won, and Kim Jin-wook were competing for the remaining starter spot, Yoon Seong-bin entered the competition.

An official from Lotte said, “If you look only at potential, Yoon Seong-bin is second to none pitcher. It is a time when motivation is needed to regain the original skills,” he said. “I hope this spring camp will be an opportunity to explode my potential.”