The announcement of the expansion of the base size and the introduction of the pitch clock is very good news for ‘Daedo’ Park Hae-min (33, LG Twins). However, Park Hae-min calmly said, “Just because it is advantageous for running baseball does not necessarily mean that stolen bases will increase,” and “You can only enjoy the effects if you thoroughly analyze the changed system and prepare for the change .”Park Hae-min, who met at Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 30th just before the professional baseball LG Twins team departed for Arizona, USA, where they set up spring training, said, “In 128 games, 200 hits were recorded (Seo Geon-chang’s 201 hits in 2014). Many people think that there are 144 games. “The system expected a record of more than 200 hits, but since then, no batter has hit more than 200 hits.” “If you want to do that, you have to prepare accordingly,” he said.
This means that efforts will be made to take advantage of the regulations. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has decided to expand the base size from 15 square inches to 18 square inches starting from the start of the 2024 season .Pitch Clock will undergo pilot operation to determine whether to apply it in the second half of the year .In the American professional baseball major league, stolen base attempts and successes have increased significantly due to the expansion of base size and pitch clock .In 2022, John Bertie ranked first in the major leagues in this category with 41 stolen bases. The number of stolen bases by Ronald Acuña Jr., the number one player in 2023, was 73. Park Hae-min ranked first in stolen bases in the KBO League for four consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2018 when he was a member of the Samsung Lions. The most stolen bases in an individual season is 60, achieved in 2015.First of all, Park Hae-min announced, “I will play more often this year.” However, what is more important is ‘increasing the success rate.’
Haemin Park attempted to steal bases 38 times last year and succeeded 26 times (68.4% steal success rate). Both the stolen base success and success rate were numbers that Park Hae-min could not be satisfied with. Although Park Hae-min was disappointed that the success rate did not exceed 70%, he was also stimulated by the fact that his peer Jeong Soo-bin (33, Doosan Bears) became the first stolen base king last year (39, success rate 83%).Park Hae-min and Su-bin Jeong were born in 1990 and are the same age. However, Park Hae-min, who was born in February, entered school a year earlier and is called ‘senior’. Park Hae-min said, “The fact that Soo-bin Jeong ranked first in stolen bases last year motivated me, too. Through Soo-bin Jeong, I gained confidence that I can challenge for the stolen base king again. Now that I have an environment where I can play more, I can improve my success rate and improve my performance further.” “I will try to steal base often,” he said. Although his success rate in stealing bases was lower than usual, Park Hae-min was a key player in LG’s combined championship in 2023.In particular, in Game 5 of the Korean Series against KT Wiz, the last game of Korean professional baseball in 2023, he hit a 2-RBI double in the bottom of the 3rd inning and made a diving catch to prevent a run in the top of the 4th inning .He also performed two spectacular uppercut ceremonies.
In the game where LG confirmed the overall championship, Park Hae-min was named Daily Most Valuable Player (MVP).Park Hae-min was deeply moved for a moment, saying, “Being selected as the MVP of that game will be something I will remember for the rest of my life,” and then added, “Now we are the defending champions that everyone is keeping in check. Even if we do a little bit poorly, people can say, ‘LG is different from last year.’ “Even if such a crisis comes, we must increase our strength so that we can overcome it well,” he said, revealing the firm resolve of a ‘those who must protect’. Park Hae-min has become an ‘adult player’ to the extent of making this request .He also sent a separate message of encouragement to rookie pitcher Park Myung-geun, who did not make the Korean Series entry and only accompanied the team .Park Hae-min explained, “It may not be easy for a new player to accept, but Park Myung-geun helped the team throughout the Korean Series without showing any signs of discomfort. I was grateful for that, so I expressed my feelings to Myung-geun.”It is also a ‘ranking order’ in which one must actually act like an adult .Park Hae-min said, “With senior Kim Min-seong transferring to the Lotte Giants, I became the third veteran among LG’s fielders after Heo Do-hwan and Kim Hyun-soo. It has been 3 years since I signed with LG.” He added, “Including 카지노사이트킹 this season, I have 2 years left on my contract with LG. No. 2. “I want to win more,” he hoped.