Reporter Seung-hwan Park] “A player who will be big”온라인바카라
The Lotte Giants selected Son Sung-bin, a former Jangang High School student, with the first overall pick in the 2021 Rookie Draft. Son had been receiving a lot of attention, winning the Imansoo Catcher Award for the best catching prospect in 2020, and was selected by Lotte to start his professional career. He played 20 games for the first team in 2021 and made a short but strong impression with a .316 batting average before joining the commercial team.
At the time, Lotte didn’t have a clear-cut starting catcher, but several players were competing for the position. That didn’t leave much room for Son to shine, so the team quickly made a move to address his military issues. He was originally set to enlist for active duty, but was lucky enough to be accepted by the Sangmu, where he spent two years honing his skills in the Futures League.
In 2022, Son hit .285 OPS with 39 hits, one home run, 31 RBIs, 30 runs scored, and a .831 slugging percentage in 69 games for the Sangsang, and this year, when he was on the verge of being called up, he hit .330 OPS with 24 hits, 15 runs scored, and a .882 slugging percentage in 29 games, including a 4-for-29 start to the season. While he has made notable progress offensively in the second team, he is currently receiving a lot of attention for his ‘defence’ in the first team. In particular, his short pop time and strong shoulders allow him to throw out runners trying to steal second base at a 100 per cent rate. In his first start since returning to Lotte, he threw out Guillermo Heredia (SSG) with runners on first and third in the bottom of the third inning against the SSG Landers on the 16th of last month.Son’s stealing ability was also on display against the Doosan Bears at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 2nd. In the top of the third inning, with the score tied at 0-0, Lee Yoo-chan attempted to steal second base, but Son fired another “laser throw” to erase the runner. After the second base umpire ruled him out, Son clenched his fist in celebration.
Commentator Jang Sung-ho, who has 2100 hits in his career, said, “It wasn’t a bad start (for the runner). But his delivery was accurate and fast, so even though it looked like a close game, he was able to get him out with time to spare. “When he throws the ball, he throws a three-quarter instead of a true overhand. At that angle, the ball is tailing at second base, so there’s some tip movement, but the ball is so fast that it doesn’t have much of an angle. If Doosan goes to first base, I don’t think he can run to second base. It was a very powerful pitch. I don’t think I can run.”
His throw was so fast and accurate that shortstop Lee Hak-joo didn’t even have to tag him. Watching the game from the dugout, pitching coach Bae Young-soo (now head coach of the second team) exclaimed, “Wow!” and smiled broadly. Even in the eyes of the legendary coach, who won 138 games in the KBO, Son’s delivery was enough to inspire admiration.
Son Sung-bin’s ‘laser fastball’ was not long in coming. It was on the 25th of last month against the LG Twins. At the time, Son caught Moon Sung-joo (LG), who had 15 stolen bases this season. The fastball looked like it would be safe, but it was no match for Son’s short pop and strong arm. LG’s throw was 138.8 kilometres, with a pop time of just 1.82 seconds.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Moon said, “I thought I just survived. I thought I had a fast start, but it was too relaxed,” he said, adding, “I thought Strillie’s pitching tempo was consistent. “I thought he had a steady tempo, and I thought he wasn’t really paying attention to me, so I went for it, but I really liked his delivery,” he said, giving him a thumbs-up.Manager Larry Sutton said before Game 2: “He didn’t have a hit, but he did hit three line drives, all of which were caught in front of the plate. “But it’s a good sign that he’s getting strong at-bats. It means he has a good approach, and he’s swinging aggressively at his zone.” Despite the no-hitter, the manager was full of praise for the rookie, who recorded his first hit in eight games.
“He’s a good catcher. I think he will grow into a hitter who can score a lot of runs on the batting side as well. However, he needs to learn more about team batting. He needs to learn how to hit to the right side of the plate, how to hit to get an extra base in a situation. With his future and current talent, he has the ability to hit in the three to five spot in the order. I think we can all agree that he’s a player that’s going to be big.”
Before signing Yoo Kang-nam in the free agent market, Lotte had been struggling with the outfield for years. He still has a lot to learn, refine, and grow, but with three stolen bases in his first three games this year, it’s clear that Lotte has a very good catcher on its hands.[Lotte Giants Son Sung-bin, Coach Bae Young-soo beaming at Son Sung-bin’s first stolen base, Lee Yoo-chan being thrown out at the plate by Son Sung-bin, and Son Sung-bin getting his first hit back.