The team has changed a lot as the time has passed for five years. The head coach has been replaced twice, and the coaching staff has also changed a lot. The pitching staff has a lot of experience from five years ago, but there are only two fielders based on the roster. On the 30th, LG departs for Arizona, USA after 5 years.
The original plan was to return to Arizona after three years. LG general manager Myung-Seok Cha signed an agreement with the City of Scottsdale to use the Arizona Scottsdale Baseball Complex, which was used by a San Francisco minor league team in the summer of 2019, from 2021. From 2014 to 2018, we decided to prepare for the new season in Arizona again as we satisfactorily camped in Arizona.
However, the trip to Arizona was postponed due to Corona 19. Like other teams, overseas camps were canceled and both 2021 and 2022 prepared for the season in Icheon. I tried to escape the cold by using a large indoor training ground, but it was not smooth. Pitchers who suffered from poor physical condition at the beginning of the season always came out. In 2021, batters placed a large proportion of indoor training, and the batting index dropped significantly.
This year’s camp doesn’t have a big weather variable. Arizona also has a large daily temperature difference until mid-February, but the highest daytime temperature is around 20 degrees. The biggest advantage is the facilities. You can train efficiently on a well-organized ground like the pictures used by MLB clubs.
In addition, the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, which is convened from the 14th, and 6 KBO league teams, including LG, are gathered in Arizona, making it easy to play. LG has already confirmed the evaluation match with the national team on February 26th local time and the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 1st. As about half of the 30 MLB teams prepare for the season in Arizona, they also play against LG and other KBO league teams.
안전놀이터 The interesting part is the camp list that has changed over the course of five years. There are many players on the pitching staff who also participated in the 2018 Arizona camp. Jin Hae-soo, Choi Dong-hwan, Choi Seong-hoon, Lee Woo-chan, Lim Chan-gyu, Bae Jae-joon, Kim Dae-hyeon, Ko Woo-seok, Son Ju-young, and Baek Seung-hyun, who was on the list as an infielder five years ago and turned pitcher, are experienced campers in Arizona.
On the other hand, only Kim Hyun-soo and Kim Ki-yeon of Yasu-jin participated in the Arizona camp five years ago. Kim Hyun-soo was the first year to join LG, and Kim Ki-yeon was a rookie catcher in the third year. Starting shortstop Oh Ji-hwan prepared for the 2018 season in Korea without an overseas camp.
Also noteworthy is the number of pitching staff, which is much higher than five years ago. On the 14th, the day of the national team call, a total of six members (Ko Woo-seok, Jung Woo-young, Kim Yun-sik, Kim Hyun-soo, Park Hae-min, and Oh Ji-hwan) will move to the WBC national team camp in Tucson, Arizona. Among them, Ko Woo-seok, Jung Woo-young, and Kim Yun-shik can also participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) in September. Considering that it was held at AG during the season, more pitchers than usual participated. The task of this camp is to prepare up to eight starting pitchers and expand the depth of Pil Seung-jo.
The pitching staff, which is smaller in size than the pitching staff, is the theme of youthful growth. This camp is especially important for infielders Song Chan-eui and Son Ho-young, and outfielder Lee Jae-won. Song Chan-eui and Lee Jae-won start competing in earnest. Son Ho-young is Oh Ji-hwan’s backup as a shortstop, but he can also see second and third base, so his weight can grow depending on the camp results. New foreign fielder Austin Dean will test his defensive abilities as an outfielder and first baseman.
It is not an easy camp spot. In the summer of 2019, LG competed with KIA over the Scottsdale Baseball Complex, a training ground. It was a training ground coveted by manager Matt Williams at the time, but LG moved faster than KIA. Head coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop, coaching staff, and players prepare for the new season in the promised land, which they stepped on four years after signing the contract.