Lee Woo-sung (30, KIA Tigers), who played his first full-time season as a main player in 12 years as a professional player, aimed to play in all games of the Korean Series.

Lee Woo-sung, who recently had a phone interview with Star News, said, "It's really good that the team won the Korean Series. I've never played autumn baseball since my debut as a professional, but I'm grateful to heaven that the first fall baseball is the Korean Series stage," but added, "Personally, it was a season that left a lot of regrets. I didn't do that well and I experienced a lot."토토사이트

2024 has been a year of achievement for Lee. In an interview with Star News ahead of the season, Lee aimed to start his career in fall baseball and the Korean Series. As he had hoped, Kia has secured an early first place in the regular season and advanced directly to the Korean Series, while Lee was a starter in the first and fifth games, enjoying the joy of winning the championship for the first time.

Based on his ostensible performance as a player, he proved that last year's breakout was not a coincidence. In 112 games during the regular season, Lee played a batting average of 0.288 (115 hits in 399 at-bats), nine homers, 54 RBIs, 56 runs and seven steals, and displayed an on-base percentage of 0.361 on-base plus slugging percentage of 0.762. Considering that he is in his second year as a full-time player, it was a season where he overcame the Sophomore jinx well.

However, the season was not satisfactory, either. Compared to the first half when he recorded a batting average of 0.317 (88 hits in 278 at-bats) with eight homers and 46 RBIs in 75 games, his 37th game after returning from a hamstring injury showed sluggish performance with a batting average of 0.223 (27 hits in 121 at-bats) with one homer and eight RBIs. A player who has not played in many games before often suffers from a hamstring injury that is often experienced when the duration of play time increases suddenly. In his first attempt at the first base defense as a pro, he recorded six errors during 87 games and 670 ⅓ innings, which is why KIA was using three players at first base throughout the Korean Series.

"This is the season when I realized once again that baseball is difficult both in hitting and defense," Lee said. "This is the first time that I hurt my hamstring. It is said that 100% of my hamstring is not easy to cure. After returning to the team, I thought I could play well, but I couldn't play as I did when I was not sick. As I played full-time for the first time, I felt physically weak. Of course, I thought it was all an excuse, and based on this experience, I was able to calculate what I should do next year."

For the better season of 2025, he started training early on with the schedule set by his team after the end of the Korean Series. He also implemented the program on family trips and started managing his diet. He had some advice from Na Sung-bum, who has suffered from a hamstring injury in recent years. "I am controlling my diet with the help of my wife. I don't eat vegetables often, but (B) Sung-bum said that once I get hurt in my thigh, I shouldn't be heavy," Lee said.

From January next year, Choi Hyung-woo (41), Choi Won-joon (27), and former teammates Ryu Ji-hyuk (30, Samsung Lions) will go on a two-day special training trip to Guam. It started from Choi's belief that if he maintains his performance this year, he can win the Korean Series next year as well. Choi, who is synonymous with "waiting chronicity," was a senior who looked down on his junior Lee Woo-sung, who showed off his skills after a belated start.

Lee Woo-sung said, "Thankfully, (Choi) Hyung-woo asked me to go to Guam. I will go with (Choi) Won-jun and (Ryu) Ji-hyuk. Originally, I prepared in Korea, but thanks to you, I was able to prepare for the season in a warm place. I want to say thank you to Hyung-woo because I think a warm place is better for recovering my injury. I want to become a player like you and take my juniors with me later on."

His bitter experience in the second half of the season and the Korean Series gave him strong motivation. "My goal is to win the Korean Series again. I want to play in all the games of the Korean Series next year," Lee said. "To do that, I need to become a player who can take care of nine innings. I also want to see how much I can do as I play the full-time season without injury."

Whether Patrick Wisdom (33), a foreign first baseman who has been rumored to be recruited recently, will join the team was also not important to him. If Wisdom joins the team, Lee will likely return to his main position in the outfield. "I don't think I have my place. So I think first of all, how I will be of help to the team's strength. If I can play both the outfield and the infield, it will be helpful to the team, and I think I will have more chances," Lee said.

Finally, he said, "I want to say thank you to the fans as well. You must have been disappointed because you didn't do well after the injury. I will prepare well to do well in the first half and the second half of next year, so I would like to ask for your support so that our team can win again."