Will the team finally be able to achieve what it wanted? Although it is premature to evaluate the team as it is still in the early days of the season, the performance of Yoo Kang-nam (33), the home ground maestro of the Lotte Giants, is making everyone laugh. 메이저놀이터

In a game against the Doosan Bears during the regular season of the Korean pro baseball league held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Saturday, Yoo started as catcher at No. 5 and scored one homer, one RBI, one walk, and two runs from three times at bat. He led the team to a complete victory by 6-1 while wearing a catcher's mask until the end of the game.

On the day, Yoo Kang-nam showed perfect performance in defense and lead the catcher's original pitching. By joining the team with starting pitcher Park Se-woong, he led the team to perfect pitching with four hits, one walk, nine strikeouts, and no run in seven innings. Since then, he has teamed up with young pitchers such as Park Jin, Chung Hyun-soo, and Chung Cheol-won to end the game safely.

In the second inning, Yang Suk-hwan, who was aiming for second base, was stopped with an accurate throw when a wild pitch came out during Park Joon-young's at-bat with two outs and first base. 

He also hit a home run. Yoo Kang-nam, who appeared as a leadoff hitter in the fourth inning, kicked a 141km fastball on the second pitch from the count of one ball to hit a solo shot that flew well over the left-center fence. His first home run for this season, with a 164.1km speed and a 29.1 degree launch angle, matched the sample of "hit well."

In the fifth inning, he calmly walked with two outs and a runner on the first base, and he homered when Kim Min-sung made a timely two-run hit to lay the stepping stone for victory. 

In fact, Yoo's batting performance has been good lately. Although Yoo suffered a crushing defeat of 3-15 on Sunday, he completed a multi-hit game by posting the first two-run double and left-handed hit. So far, he has a batting average of 389 (seven hits in 18 times at bat) in 10 games, with one homer, three RBIs and an OPS of 1.167. Although he briefly lost the starting pitcher mask to Information Keun, he regained his position as the main host.

After the end of the 2022 season, Yoo Kang-nam signed a four-year, eight-billion-won contract with Lotte as a free agent. Soon, he is entering the third season of his contract. He had ups and downs in the first year of his contract, and last year, the second year of his contract, he underwent knee surgery and was out early in the season. As Yoo Kang-nam left the club after undergoing knee surgery in July last year, Lotte suffered considerable difficulties due to catcher problem in the second half of the year.

After all, it is no exaggeration to say that Yoo Kang-nam is the one who holds the helm of Lotte this season. Yoo Kang-nam tried his best not to repeat his slump and injury last year. During the off-season rehabilitation process, he lost 13 kilograms and managed the spring camp lightly. 

Manager Kim Tae-hyung stressed throughout the spring camp that Yoo Kang-nam is the key player of this season. During the Tainan spring camp in Taiwan, manager Kim Tae-hyung reiterated the importance of Yoo Kang-nam's role to achieve a generational change in the mound this season and stabilize the team. 

Since the season's opening, Yoo Kang-nam has been enjoying the season without any aftereffects of knee surgery and has been playing a role in hitting the ball. Manager Kim Tae-hyung smiled broadly at Yoo Kang-nam as he entered the stadium after hitting a home run. This implies a lot of meaning. "Thank you for your good performance as a catcher in Yoo Kang-nam, who had his first home run and hit the finishing hit," manager Kim Tae-hyung said after the game.

After the game, Yoo Kang-nam said, "I made great efforts to get good results from the at-bats. The results that I had tried hard from yesterday's game began to come out little by little. At times like this, I think we need to focus on every game without being too happy," adding, "I hesitated before hitting the batter's box." He entered the batter's box with the mindset of swinging boldly and aggressively so as not to repeat himself. As a result, he hit a home run for the first time in a long time. "I was more happy that I helped the team than the individual result of the home run," he said.

Regarding his role as the homeowner on the day, he said, "In the case of mixing balls, Se-woong knew that his ball power was good today, and his strength led to an effective pitch. It was thanks to Se-woong's ball power today that he managed the game without losing a point for seven innings."

Yoo Kang-nam is now in the middle and high school position. He needs to play a bridge role and lead the team. "Older brothers are creating a team atmosphere. I will do my best not only individually but also as a team to help the team go in a good direction early in the season," he said.