Kiwoom Heroes catcher Lee Ji-young (37) was selected for the first time since his professional debut in the national team.
On the 4th, KBO held a press conference to announce the WBC national team entry at the Baseball Hall in Dogok-dong, Seoul, and announced the final 30 entries for the WBC scheduled to be held in March next year. Among the catchers, Yang Eui-ji (Doosan) and Lee Ji-young (Kiwoom) were named.
Lee Ji-young’s selection surprised the fans. This is because he was selected for the national team, beating out big players such as Park Dong-won (LG) and Yoo Gang-nam (Lotte) who heated up the FA market.
Lee Ji-young, who is active as the main catcher for Kiwoom, recorded a batting average of .267 (112 hits in 420 bats), 2 homers, 37 RBIs, and an OPS of .634 in 137 games last year. He had his best season, passing 100 hits for the first time since 2016 and hitting a home run in three years. He also had the second most innings pitched in the league (994⅔ innings) on defense. In fall baseball, he played as a starting catcher in all 14 games and led the young Kiwoom pitching staff to a runner-up in the Korean Series.
National team coach Lee Kang-cheol said, “The main catcher is Yang Eui-ji. While watching last year’s postseason and Korean Series, Lee Ji-young thought that although she was a little older, she could move well and play a good role as a backup catcher. He consulted with battery coach Jin Gap-yong, and his skills improved a lot, and he chose Lee Ji-young because he was diligent in baseball and not lacking in skills.”
It is the first time Lee Ji-young has been selected for the national team since her professional debut. In an interview during the postseason last year, Lee Ji-young said, “As an amateur, I was selected for the national team three or four times안전놀이터. However, he was never selected for the national team after coming to the pros. She predicted that it would be difficult for her to be selected for the national team, saying, “I will look forward to it, but will I be able to be selected?”
Lee Ji-young, who said, “Even if I were the coach, I think I would take young players with one shot,” and said, “I won’t take me. There are only vague expectations. I just want to go into the preliminary entry. I think that was also a success in its own way.”
Lee Ji-young, who is not flashy but plays solidly, has a lot of experience in big games, having advanced to the Korean Series six times. In the national team, which has many relatively young pitchers, Ji-Young Lee’s experience will be of great help. Let’s see how Lee Ji-young, who has achieved her dream of becoming the Taegeuk mark, will perform at the WBC.