SSG Landers, which announced its remodeling after the end of the 2023 season, has started to strengthen its home turf by recruiting outside players. It acquired Park Dae-on and Shin Bum-soo through the second round of KBO draft in November 2023, and had Lee Ji-young as a free agent through sign-and-trade in January last year.메이저놀이터

It wasn't that they didn't have catcher resources. There were players that could be used in the first team, including Kim Min-sik and Cho Hyung-woo. However, SSG wanted to build a more stable power by securing catcher resources. It was also compelling to consider that young players needed more time.

On the surface, SSG's concerns have been resolved to some extent. Veteran catcher Lee Ji-young who was born in 1986 (in 914 ⅔ innings) took charge of the most innings among catchers in his team, living up to the expectations of the head coach. Among catchers in the league last year, only two pitchers – Lee Ji-young and Park Dong-won (in 944 ⅔ innings) – surpassed 900 innings.

His batting performance was not bad, either. Lee Ji-young played in 123 games and posted a batting average of 0.279 with five home runs and 50 RBIs in 398 times at bat, and posted an OPS of 0.669. He has produced triple-digit hits in two years since he had 112 hits in 2022 when he was playing for the Kiwoom Heroes.

Lee Ji-young, whom I met at SSG Landers Field in Incheon in November last year, said, "It's better to go out more. If my physical condition is okay, I think it's right to go out more. It would have been good to go out more. It was a lot of fun and happy season to go out this much. I thank the coach."

When asked about Lee Ji-young early last season, SSG coach Lee Soo-yong said, "I thought I would be able to take some hits. If a veteran player has strength physically, he is competitive no matter who it is. He is leading young pitchers well and fits well with veteran pitchers. He is a very good catcher. This helped ease my worries about him."

However, SSG's home turf issue is not completely resolved. Kim Min-sik (264 ⅔ innings) and Cho Hyung-woo (90 ⅓ innings), who played backup catcher, failed to meet expectations. Hyun Won-hoe, Shin Bum-soo, Jeon Kyung-won and Park Dae-on were given the opportunity in the second division (Futures League), but no clear outcome was made.

For SSG, the best scenario is for Lee to stay at the home turf for a long time this season as well. However, the team should solve the task of fostering young catchers for the present and future of the team. It is time for catchers to step up their efforts.

Lee Yul-ye, who was selected by SSG in the first round in the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft last year, is also drawing keen attention. "The calculation is that Lee Yul-ye will be able to play in the next season. Shouldn't we show something that we can do well during the spring camp?" said Kim Jae-hyun, general manager of SSG.

It remains to be seen whether SSG, which confirmed the growth of young players such as pitcher Cho Byung-hyun, infielder Park Ji-hwan and Jung Joon-jae last year, will be able to achieve results at home this year.