For the second year in a row, the shock of the first upset is over. As they gather in Icheon for their final camp, Lee Seung-yup’s goal is to rebound and rebound and rebound.
Doosan, led by Lee Seung-yeop, failed to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason with a 0-1 loss in the second game of the wild-card deciding series against KT Wiz at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on March 3, dropping the series 2-0.
Doosan entered the wild-card decider with a one-game advantage after finishing fourth in the regular season, one spot higher than last year, but dropped both games to KT, which finished fifth in the best-of-five series, and saw its fall baseball season come to an end in two games. There have been two first-round losses for the fourth-place team in the wild-card decider since 2015, but this was the first time a fourth-place team dropped two games to a fifth-place team. Lee Seung-yeop-ho became the first dishonorable mention.
The silence in the batting order proved fatal, as “Catcher 15.2 Billion” Yang Ji broke his collarbone, forcing Jared Young, Kim Jae-hwan, and Yang Seok-hwan to bat in the center of the order, but they were shut out for the second straight day against KT’s foreign duo of William Cuevas and Wes Benjamin. The lackluster swings and empty hits led to a shocking 18 innings without a run.
Ace Kwak Bin Kwak, who started Game 1, was pulled early after giving up four runs in the first inning.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop met with reporters at Icheon Bears Park, where the team is in the midst of its final camp, and said, “There are no excuses. There is no excuse. We are the team that went up to fourth place and ended the season in fifth place after losing the wild card deciding game,” and said, ”A month after the season ended was like a year. Now that we’re cleaned up, we’ve been in Icheon since Nov. 1, and seeing the young players gives me a lot of hope. I’ve been in charge of Dusan for two years, and I always think we can be stronger.”
The theme of the third finalization camp since his appointment is rebuilding, restructuring, and enhancing depth. “In the final camp, I told the young players to beat the veterans. “There are a lot of young players who are better than I thought,” he said, ”and they shouldn’t let the veterans relax. I don’t think the veterans should be relaxed. Doosan can only be stronger if the young players perform in the first team. I hope they can overtake the seniors, 토토사이트 and they should put in enough effort to not lose their place to the seniors who are training on their own.”
Lee also talked about which players stand out in particular.
“Among the beasts, three players stand out: Jeon Damin, Yeo Dong-gun, and Oh Myung-jin. Park Jun-young has also improved a lot. I haven’t seen much of them in the first team, but they are very fast in this camp. We don’t play fast baseball because we have a lot of veterans on the team, but seeing how fast they are, I think they can be an energizing force for the team.”
“In the past, Heo Kyung-min, Jeong Soo-bin, Park Gun-woo, Min Byung-heon, and others have played worthy of the Doosan Hustle Doo. The younger hitters can make a difference in Doosan baseball,” he added.
On the pitching staff, Park Ji-ho, Yoon Tae-ho, and Kim Moo-bin were mentioned as future prospects.
Another reason to be optimistic about next season is the return of all eight players who effectively missed the entire 2023 season due to Oh Jae-won’s prescription for sleeping pills. Kim In-tae, Kim Min-hyuk, Jang Seung-hyun, Park Kye-beom, Je Hwan-yu, Park Ji-hoon, and Lee Seung-jin are in full training camp, while Ahn Seung-han has come out of retirement and is taking front classes.
“Those eight players were the strength we really needed, and we lost a lot of strength when they missed almost 100 games,” Lee said. ”Now they’re back, and all they have to do is complete 80 hours of community service and everything will be fine. Hopefully, they’ll have a good effect on the team next season. Now that it’s over, I hope they can put their worries behind them and play the baseball they didn’t get to play this year,” he said, welcoming the eight back to the team.
He also talked about meeting with them before training.
“I’ve never been in their shoes, but it must have been hard not being able to talk to anyone. It was hard for us watching, but it must have been even harder for them. Some of them have families, some have wives and children,” he said, adding, ”I told them that they need to do better and that they have been struggling.”
But there’s no special treatment in the camp competition just because they had a bad year. “The opportunities are equal,” Lee said. They don’t get an extra chance because they had a bad year,” he said, adding, ”It might take them longer because they haven’t played 100 games. It will take more effort from the players themselves to reduce the anxiety of not playing 100 games.”
Finally, Lee addressed the Doosan fans who were disappointed to miss out on the wild-card round for the second consecutive year, saying, “We will work hard to become a stronger team, and we are still working hard. We will work very hard for the next four months until next February.” ”Next year, we will work hard from now on to show the hustle and grit of the past Doosan dynasty, never giving up on a game and biting until the end. We will show you the complete Doosan.”