Professional baseball player Lee Joo-hyung (24) of Kiwoom Heroes is determined to prepare perfectly for the season and achieve better results than last year's.

On 20th, Lee Joo-hyung participated as the fifth center fielder in a practice game against the Chinatrust Brothers at CTBC Park in Pingtung, Taiwan, recording one at-bat with no hits and one walk.

Lee Joo-hyung, who joined LG through the second round (13th pick) of the 2020 rookie draft, wore the Kiwoom uniform through a trade in 2023. Entering his third season with Kiwoom this year, Lee noted, "There’s about a month left until the season starts, and I can definitely feel it. It's not quite the good feeling I hoped for, but I feel like I can improve, so I'm looking at it positively" after finishing his first practice game.

Though he felt disappointed with his batting, Lee Joo-hyung showcased good defense by preventing a score with a strong throw in a situation with one out and the bases loaded. He said, "It seems like the Taiwanese ball doesn't fly well. I thought it was a hit, but as I was running, I caught it and was able to make a good play." He added, "In batting, I can do well during practice, but my timing isn’t matching during games yet. I plan to focus more on timing in the next game."

Lee Joo-hyung demonstrated his potential, recording a batting average of .326 (70 hits in 215 at-bats) with 6 home runs, 36 RBIs, 32 runs, 3 stolen bases, and an OPS of .897 in 69 games in 2023. Last year, he played his first full season, achieving a batting average of .266 (126 hits in 473 at-bats) with 13 home runs, 60 RBIs, 82 runs, 6 stolen bases, and an OPS of .752. While not a bad result, it fell somewhat short of expectations.

Lee Joo-hyung expressed, "I wasn't very good towards the end of last year. Before that, I had to maintain consistency while being satisfied, but I got tangled up trying hard to do better. I think I need to keep my thoughts steady until the end, so I’m trying to maintain what I've prepared without changing it and push through until the end. I'm trying to keep my body balanced, but I feel like I slipped a bit during the game, which is disappointing. Still, I will strive to see it through to the end."

"I feel that the expectations have dropped compared to last year," said Lee Joo-hyung. "So the pressure is not as great as last year. Since I achieved a certain level of performance last year, I believe that if I fulfill my role accordingly, the performance will improve, and my role on the team will also become more important." He expressed enthusiasm about showing even better performances this year.

Before the team moved to the first camp in Arizona, USA, this winter, Lee Joo-hyung went to the U.S. early with several players to train with Lee Jung-hu (San Francisco) and Kim Hye-seong (Dodgers). When he first joined Kiwoom, Lee was nicknamed 'post-Lee Jung-hu' and stated, "I think I've seen about 100 players called the second Lee Jung-hu. I consider myself one of them. I'm grateful to have been called that and will work hard on my baseball."

"Lee Jung-hu is such a caring person towards his juniors that despite my shy nature, I quickly became close to him," said Lee Joo-hyung. "Watching Lee Jung-hu makes me want to excel in baseball and take good care of my juniors as well." He added, "I've had the pleasure of doing batting practice with Lee Jung-hu, and it feels prideful to have been on the same team as him," he said with a smile.

Lee Joo-hyung, who often hears that his swing resembles that of Lee Jung-hu, explained, "I think my swing has changed a lot. While I've been bogged down by results, I've also improved some things for better performance. Lee Jung-hu's ability to maintain a consistent posture is truly impressive."

"Baseball seems to get harder the more I know about it," Lee Joo-hyung remarked. "This year, I've prepared more than last year, but I still have questions. However, I believe it's better to realize what kind of sport baseball is rather than going in blindly and facing difficulties. So I’m trying to prepare perfectly like this, even a bit sensitively," he emphasized, expressing his commitment to make the most of the remaining spring camp.

[OSEN=핑둥, 길준영 기자]