Yang Eui-ji became the first winner of the new KBO Defensive Award catcher category at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Awards held in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on the 27th. 안전놀이터
Yang Eui-ji received 34 votes from voters and scored 75 points for his vote. He received 17.41 points in the catcher’s defense record score, including blocking and official records, excluding stolen bases without a catcher, and ranked first with 92.41 points overall. Park Dong-won (LG) with 80.8 points and Kim Tae-gun (KIA) with 70.54 points were second and third, respectively, to Yang Eui-ji.
Yang Eui-ji, who was happy to receive the award on the first year of his FA contract worth 15.2 billion won (approx. Personally, I had some problems adjusting to the team just after joining the team this year, but I think I finished the season well. However, I feel that I am not good enough with my personal performance. I need to prepare a lot from now on to do better next year,” Yang said. “It means a lot that I have become an invited winner. I will work hard and finish my career well so that I will not be ashamed of this award from now on.”
As Yang Eui-ji said, he had to leave his team while playing with new pitchers at the Australian spring camp due to his participation in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He had a tough year playing in international competitions ahead of the opening of this season.
Yang Eui-ji said, “I didn’t have enough time to work together. I started the game in poor physical condition. Of course, I couldn’t manage my performance personally, but I was disappointed with my performance,” adding, “I have a figure that I should be able to achieve this level of performance. If I work harder and get a good performance, I think my team’s performance will improve.” He promised a better second season.
Yang Eui-ji picked three major factors to look forward to in the 2024 season. He mentioned catcher Kim Ki-yeon who joined the team through the second draft, fourth batter Kim Jae-hwan who participated in the closing camp and sweated a lot, and Yang Seok-hwan who is negotiating to remain in the team.
Doosan reinforced its home defense by selecting LG catcher Kim Ki-yeon as the fourth pick in the first round in the second KBO draft held on the 22nd. There are already numerous backup catchers such as Jang Seung-hyun, Ahn Seung-han, Yoon Joon-ho, Park Min-joon, Park Yeon-yu and Jang Kyu-bin, but they failed to arrange Yang Eui-ji’s physical strength due to their poor performance this year, and accordingly, they focused on the catcher’s position before the start of the second draft and selected the home master from the first round.
Kim Ki-yeon, a native of Jinheung High School, is an unfinished catcher who wore an LG uniform as the 34th pick in the second fourth round of the 2016 rookie draft. Although he spent eight years since joining the team, his career record was only 143 RBIs in 42 games, and he was sluggish with a batting average of 118,2 RBIs in 28 games this year when the team won for the first time in 29 years.
“In Korea, we still have some school ties and school ties,” Yang Eui-ji, who welcomed a junior at Jinheung High School, said with a smile, “When Kim Ki-yeon was a member of LG, he came to greet me and used to give me a bat. However, he has to take the position himself. To be honest, it’s good if there are many catchers. I am not a catcher who can play for 10 years, so Doosan should develop its main catcher. I think I have that duty as well. I’m sure the coach will do well, but I’ll prepare well to help him a lot.”
He also had a bright outlook for Kim’s revival next season. “I saw the video clip that Jae-hwan (played by Kim) was playing hard. I talked about this and that in the middle of the season, but he had a hard time. Rather than telling me what to do next to him, he gave me mental advice to help Jae-hwan do well again,” Yang said. “I think he will overcome it. I have no doubt because I went to my friend (Jeong-ho).”
Kim didn’t have enough time to take part in the closing camp, so he returned to take a break and went on a personal training trip to the U.S. He plans to learn batting know-how from Kang Jung-ho, a former Major Leaguer who runs a baseball academy in the U.S.
Yang served as Doosan`s homerun batter with Lee Seung-yeop. With a batting average of 281 with 21 homers and 89 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .454 in 140 games, he ranked fifth in the home run category. Yang is a right-handed pitcher who has hit 20 homers (28-20) for three consecutive years, which is quite an attractive card for teams that need reinforcement of first baseman and center fielder. Of course, he is the most needed player for Doosan, which does not have a good first baseman alternative.
Doosan, which has set up a stance to stay at home, reportedly held its first negotiation table on the night of the 27th after meeting with Yang Seok-hwan for the first time last week.
“It’s good if there are many players. It’s a little too much to leak,” Yang Eui-ji said, blurring, “Of course, it would be difficult for the club, but I don’t see any signs that the players currently underneath will burst. The more good players there are, the better,” Yang said, hoping to extend his companionship with Yang.