Lotte Jung-hoon said, "I will raise my batting average to the maximum.

This winter, quite a few hitters moved to Los Angeles in the U.S. to prepare for the new season. This is to take lessons from former Major Leaguer Kang Jung-ho.

As NC Son Ah-seop, who was the batting champion last year, saw a lot of lessons from Kang Jung-ho, Kang Jung-ho's academy's status has risen.

Son Ah-seop headed back to LA, and Kim Jae-hwan (Doosan), Park Se-hyuk (NC), and Han Dong-hee (Lotte) also received special tutoring. Notably, Han Dong-hee drew more attention because retired Lee Dae-ho took his own money with him.

Jung Hoon, 37, of the Lotte Giants, is also one of the hitters who is heading to LA. He moved to the U.S. with Lee Dae-ho and Han Dong-hee to share his life.

Jung-hoon and Kang Jung-ho were the same age as each other at Hyundai. Jung-hoon entered the professional stage wearing Hyundai uniform as a training player in 2006. After graduating from Gwangju Jeil High School, Kang joined the Hyundai uniform as eighth priority in the second round and first round in the rookie draft in 2006. The two shared the sorrow in the second tier.

After receiving special tutoring, Jung is currently building up his body in Guam, the site of the first spring camp. Kang's lessons also have significant influence.

"It was a technique I had never experienced before. I played baseball for a long time, but it felt very fresh. After training together, I realized how he was coaching even though he was not as physically fit as I wanted," Jung-hoon said over the phone.

Having played 111 games in 2020 and 135 games in 2021, Jung has played only double-digit games over the past two years. Last year, he had to be satisfied with his batting average of 0.279 with six homers and 31 RBIs in 80 games.

Large and small injuries plagued him. He was away for a month with a hamstring injury in early May and had to undergo another month of rehabilitation in late June with a side injury. It was an opportunity for Jung to realize once again that playing consistently is the most important thing. Kang also agreed that it was inevitable.

As a result, Jung-hoon is also in a situation where he has to compete to expand his position in this camp. He has to show his skills in both defense and batting.

Jung Hoon is determined to be competitive in batting first. For that reason, he said, "Defensive is important, but I think competitiveness should be revived at bat."

In defense, he should solidify his position as the main player in the first base. He is in a position to compete with his junior Ko Seung-min and others. "I'm confident in my defense," he said, "If I want to play a lot of games, I have to produce results. To do that, the first priority is not to get hurt, and then I'm trying to do well in that regard, whether I'm on base or not."

Once I play in the game, I am preparing to raise my capabilities and show them. Jung-hoon said, "If you go out, you have to perform to the maximum with what you can do."

At the same time, he also dreamed of advancing to the postseason, saying, "We need to do well together to advance to the fall baseball league." Jung Hoon is one of the few players who has experience in the 2017 season, the most recent year for Lotte to advance to the postseason.

Personally, Chung has a chance to renew his commitment this season. After becoming a free agent after the 2021 season, Chung signed a three-year contract with the condition of 1.8 billion won (1.8 million U.S. dollars). The 2024 season is the last year of his three-year contract.

Jung-hoon, who recalled the time of his first FA contract, said, "When I first played FA, I thought it would not be easy for everyone. It wasn't easy for me either, but I did it because I did it silently," adding, "I definitely have a sense of goal. I'm preparing hard to do what I can and wait." 토토사이트먹튀