KIA rookie Lee Sang-joon won the 7th Lee Man-soo Catcher Award. Former manager Lee Man-soo praised, “He is the best in attack among contemporary catchers.”
The Hulk Foundation, which is headed by former coach Lee Man-soo, held the 7th Lee Man-soo Catcher Award and Home Run Award ceremony at the conference room of Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Monday. The winner of the catcher award is Lee Sang-joon. Lee is a third grader at Gyeonggi High School and was drafted 26th overall in the third round by the KIA Tigers in this year’s draft.
Manager Lee Man-soo said through the Hulk Foundation, “(Lee Sang-joon) has the most outstanding talent in offense among contemporary catchers. You need to learn a lot and gain experience in defense when you come to a pro. It is not easy for a rookie catcher to take the lead while demanding various things from a senior pitcher during a game. However, it was as if he was a rookie Kang Min-ho when he felt sad. Due to such characteristics, Kang became a starting member in the pro league early on and succeeded. “If Lee Sang-joon tries hard in the pro league and is not tempted by things other than baseball, I am confident that he will become Kia’s starting catcher within the next five years.”
After the draft, KIA said, “Lee Sang-joon, who has physical conditions of 181 centimeters and 105 kilograms, is evaluated as having strong shoulders and long-range shots. In particular, Lee Sang-joon, who played as a national catcher at the 31st World Youth Baseball Championship held this year, is expected to play well as a main catcher who combines offense and defense in the future.”
Lee Sang-joon joined the KIA closing camp in Okinawa last month and expressed his ambition, saying, “First of all, the goal is the rookie award,” adding, “I want to enter the exhibition game entry and also enter the opening entry.” 랭크카지노
The home run award went to Cha Seung-joon, a sophomore at Masan Yongma High School, who dominated the high school baseball league by beating seniors in his third year of high school. Cha is the second winner of the fourth home run award after Park Chan-hyuk (Kium, then a sophomore at Bukil High School in Cheonan).
“If Cha Seung-joon keeps performing well next year, he is expected to rank among the top in next year’s KBO rookie draft,” former coach Lee Man-soo said. The fact that a high school player dominated the high school league by beating his seniors shows that those who are ready will succeed when the opportunity arises. That much, Cha has strong guts. I don’t know which team he will be nominated for, but I’m sure that the team that Cha will join will ease worries about a single infield spot over the next 15 years. As I told Lee Sang-joon earlier, he is well qualified to become a mega infielder if he trains hard in the professional league and does not easily fall for temptation in his personal life.”