The dreams of the 10 KBO league teams, all of which set up spring camps abroad for the first time in three years after 2020, are the same. The goal is to win the 2023 season. Of course, there are teams that say their goal is to advance to fall baseball on the outside, but deep down they want to go beyond fall baseball and sit on the throne of fall baseball.
Not just the team. Each player has their own goals. Pitchers want to increase velocity and refine their pitches, while hitters want to have the ability to actively respond to any ball. Players with a weak defense sometimes focus on supplementing the defense.
The importance of spring camp cannot be overemphasized. This is because it is not too much to say that performance in spring camp determines the performance of the 2023 season. Not only the weaknesses revealed on the outside, but also the weaknesses that lie inside must be supplemented through the spring camp.
The 2023 season also has many things to see and talk about. Also, there are many variables.
The ‘Jamsil rivals’ LG and Doosan replaced the directors with different propositions. New head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop was given the top task of winning the LG championship, and coach Lee Seung-yeop, a novice leader, was entrusted with rebuilding Doosan’s reputation, which slipped to 9th place in the Korean Series for 7 consecutive years.
SSG coach Kim Won-hyung and Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki, who were trusted for consecutive appointments, but were saddened by their 1st and 2nd place last year, took on the task of losing consecutively and winning for the first time in history.
Lotte and Hanwha, who have not been able to take off the tail of the bottom team for many years, are interested in how the two foreign coaches will change the team in that their contracts expire this year.
Also drawing attention is the ranking battle this season between kt and NC, which lacked the team’s foreign one-punch, and KIA and Samsung, which took a step back from outside recruitment during the Stove League.
One of the other focuses is to pay attention to the performance of the KBO League’s famous star players who have suffered severe trials in renewing the annual salary.
Representatively, Oh Seung-hwan, who is writing the history of finishing the KBO league, gave the club a card of blank commission, and 200 million won was reduced to 1.4 billion won, and Park Seok-min (NC) and Cha Woo-chan (LG) signed a renewal contract for 50 million won, which is less than the salary of the second year. . In particular, Oh Seung-hwan is most interested in whether he can wash away the concerns around him about his aging curve.
Kang Baek-ho (kt), who wears the modifier ‘genius hitter’, was cut by a whopping 47% (260 million won) and renewed the contract for 290 million won, less than 310 million won in the 2021 season, which was the fourth year. At one time, the title of Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom)’s rival was attached to him, but now he is in a position to return it.
In the midst of this, it is expected that the focus of fans’ attention throughout the season will be whether Lee Jung-hoo will be able to enter the major leagues with the highest amount ever, showing off his dignity as the best hitter not only in the KBO League but also in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
All of this is half decided at spring camp.
Spring camp starts on February 1 for most of the 10 clubs. To this end, on the 29th, Kiwoom Heroes, kt Wiz, NC Dinos, and Hanwha Eagles left for Arizona, USA, and Doosan Bears left for Sydney, Australia.
On the 30th, SSG Landers will depart for Florida, USA, LG Twins and KIA Tigers will depart for Arizona, and Samsung Lions will depart for Okinawa, Japan. The Lotte Giants will go to Guam, USA on February 1, a day later. 먹튀검증
Among them, Kiwoom, kt, NC, Doosan, and LG all return home after completing the first camp training, but SSG, KIA, and Hanwha move to Okinawa, Japan, to learn a sense of actual combat through practice games. Lotte is also planning to move from Guam to Ishigaki, Japan, and finalize in Okinawa. Most of the teams return to Korea in early March and start preparations for demonstration games.
In the meantime, the national players participating in the 2023 WBC will gather in Tucson, Arizona, USA on February 14 for joint training under the direction of coach Lee Kang-cheol, and return home on March 1. And on March 4, I leave for Japan, a battleground.