KIA Tigers' Lee Woo-sung met with reporters after a spring camp practice game against KT Wiz at Kin Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on the 3rd and expressed his feelings about his defensive position.

Originally, Lee was an outfielder. Last season, he mostly played first base and recorded 670 ⅓ innings. He also played 162 innings in the right field and 33 innings in the left field. KIA has recruited infielder Patrick Wisdom as a new foreign hitter ahead of the 2025 season. With Wisdom heading to the first base, Lee will return to the outfield. He will likely fill the void left by outfielder Socrates Brito, who stayed with him until last year but failed to renew his contract.토토사이트

"Honestly, I feel comfortable coming back to the outfield. When I was a first baseman, I wanted to take other fielders' throws well, but I felt sorry that it didn't work out as much as I thought," Lee said. "I liked (Kim) Sun-bin because he was close (to second baseman), but (Kim) Do-young and shortstop (Park) Chan-ho threw from relatively far away, so I couldn't catch the ball well."

"My mistake didn't go up, but I felt really bad about DOYOUNG or CHANHO's mistake going up because of me," Lee said. "It's much more comfortable because it doesn't happen in the outfield. I didn't want to make it obvious. Still, I felt sorry if I couldn't catch the ball not only for DOYOUNG and CHANHO but also for anyone who was substituted. I felt like a chimney."

How did he feel after returning to the outfield? "I had a big injury last year. I've never had a hamstring injury, but it really hurt a lot," Lee said. "I didn't have a good result even after returning. That's why I came here with the determination to stay calm and prepared." "My first priority was to have the camp without any injuries, but fortunately, I haven't had any pain so far. I think I'm doing well with that alone."

After leaving the team due to injury in late June last year, he joined the team's roster in early August. He had a batting average of 0.317 (88 hits in 278 at-bats) and eight homers and 46 RBIs in 75 games in the first half, but had a batting average of 0.223 (27 hits in 121 at-bats) and one homer and eight RBIs in 37 games in the second half after his return.

Did he completely recover his sense of running? "It didn't hurt. When I see a good run on base after a hit, I feel like I'm getting my sense back," Lee said.

He is targeting a rebound this year. At a practice game against KT on Thursday, he fired cannons, displaying two hits (one homer) and two RBIs in three times at bat. At the bottom of the second inning when his team was losing 0-1, Lee hit a fastball of 143 km/h at two-seam to hit a solo home run to the left. He balanced the score 1-1. At the bottom of the fifth inning when his team was leading 5-1, Lee scored an additional point with a timely hit.

"I was lucky enough to have a home run. As I always tell you, I'm not the type to care about my condition," Lee said. "I just try to do my best what I've done so far. Then a hit comes out. Rather than a numerical value, I want to do my best to become a good player every day."

I have a special goal. "Coach Lee Bum-ho, seniors, and coaches are all telling me not to hit ground balls. I don't like ground balls either, but I kept coming out, so I tried to change it," Lee said. "I still try to avoid hitting ground balls when I hit balls. I try to hit the bottom of the ball from the training session."

"There must have been a number of factors including timing. I received some advice such as hitting only the upper body without using the lower body or spreading out the left shoulder," he said. "I try to turn the lower body first and use the wrist as late as possible. I have to work hard."

"I don't have a personal goal number. I just want to help you win," Lee said. "I want to become a player who will take responsibility until the ninth inning this year."