"You can never do it like this, if it's your heart..." Kim Kyung-moon's division is in full operation, aiming for a counterattack against Hanwha in the second half of the year
"You can never do it like this, if it's your heart..." Kim Kyung-moon's division is in full operation, aiming for a counterattack against Hanwha in the second half of the year
Blog Article
The professional baseball Hanwha Eagles will operate the division of head coach Kim Kyung-moon in earnest from the second half of the year. Head coach Yang Seung-kwan and pitcher coach Yang Sang-moon will join the team to assist head coach Kim Kyung-moon.여우알바
Kim Kyung-moon, who took the helm of the Hanwha Eagles on April 2, carried his existing coaching staff in his hands. As he was appointed in the middle of the season, it was difficult to make drastic changes. However, Kim conveyed his intention to recruit coaches who are in sync with him to the club just in time for the All Star break, and decided to change the coaching staff in order to reorganize the team ahead of the start of the second half of the year.
As is well known, SPOTV commentator Yang Sang-moon will come as the first team pitching coach. Although he is a "giant figure" who has served as manager of Lotte and LG three times and also served as the general manager of LG, he will return to the field as a coach at the invitation of Kim, who is a senior at Dongseong Middle School and Korea University in Busan. He is a representative pitching expert in Korean baseball and has extensive experience as a pitching coach at Lotte and LG. It is his first time to work with Kim as a coach in a professional league.
Yang Seung-kwan, who led the Paju Challengers of the independent baseball team, will join the team as the head coach of the first division. He worked with Kim as the head coach and batting coach for the NC Dinosaurs for six years from 2013 to 2018. Notably, he is a close aide to Kim, who served as the head coach for three years from 2014 to 2016.
"I can't say I know all the players, but I'm getting to know their strengths and weaknesses to a certain extent," manager Kim said ahead of the match against KT in Daejeon on the 4th, which marks the first month since his inauguration. "I've talked a lot with the new coaches Yang and Yang. What we're talking about is to always make a pitcher strong. Hitting comes up and down. If a pitcher is strong, we will have an opportunity to win consecutive games someday."
The fact that Yang, a former coach, was brought in also reflects Kim's commitment to strengthening his pitching capabilities. "After talking with Yang (as a commentator), he had a lot of thoughts on what to do about Moon Dong-ju and Hwang Joon-seo during the broadcast. I will discuss with the pitchers in person and do it one by one," Kim said.
He is not registered as an entry but joined the team ahead of the match against KT on April 4, because he is a key player for counterattacks in the second half of the season. Moon lost five hits (one homer) and one walk, five strikeouts and two runs in five innings at the Futures League SSG match on May 3. He will return to the starting rotation starting from the second series of the second half of the season against Daejeon LG on May 12.
On Moon Dong-ju, Kim said, "I came here looking healthy. How handsome are you when you came here with a bright face…"He's a young player, but he must have thought a lot about it when he joined the second team. We have a new pitching coach, and we invited him early to the first team to prepare well for the second half of the year," he said.
The Hanwha team will take only one day off on Friday during the All-Star break. After training in Daejeon on June 6-7, the team will move to Seoul on June 8, and start the second half of the year against Kiwoom in Gocheok on June 9. Head coach Yang Seung-kwan and coach Yang Sang-moon will join the team from June 6. "I want to do it all three days, but I will practice for two days," Kim said, signaling intensive training starting from the closing camp.
"We must never show our fans so many losing games. We must show them at least 50 percent of the time," Kim said. "Losing means that our team is weak. Then we have to practice a lot. You have to find an answer while practicing. It's welcome news that you find an answer while losing. You can control your control when you lose, and your bat can't run well. Even if it goes well, that's only for a moment. I plan to practice a lot (from the closing camp)."
Just because they are already discussing the final training sessions does not mean that they are giving up the rest of the season. Hanwha, which finished the first half in ninth place (36 wins, 44 losses, two draws, and a .450 win rate) by coming from behind to win 13-5 at the match against KT on Monday, has 62 more games to play in the second half. It is still lagging 3.5 games behind fifth-ranked SSG (41 wins, 42 losses, two draws and a .494 win rate). Kim believes that he will have a chance at least once or twice in the second half.
"There are many minus points (win-loss margin) right now, but the gap is not much different from fifth place," Kim said. "Once you ride a winning streak, you can narrow the gap. Players will also have a chance to win consecutive games." We will firmly prepare to counterattack in the second half of the year." Attention is focusing on whether Hanwha, which has reorganized itself into a full-fledged "Kim Kyung-moon division" with the addition of Yang Seung-kwan and Yang Sang-moon, will stage a counterattack in the second half of the year.