"I learned a lot from this season. I want to be a more stable starter next season."
NC Dinos right-hander Young Gun Lee Yong-joon predicted his performance in the 2024 season.
Lee Yong-joon, who graduated from Jungjung Elementary School, Yangcheon Middle School, and Seoul Design High School, is a right-handed pitcher with heavy fastballs, sharp sliders, and stable game management skills. In the second round of 2021, he entered the professional league as the 16th overall pick by NC.
Lee Yong-joon, who had not won a single game until last year, had a meaningful time this year. He entered the starting lineup early in the season, taking advantage of a gap due to Taylor Widener's injury. In the match against the Changwon KT Wiz on April 12, his first start, he even won the first professional first-team match with four hits, two outs, three strikeouts and one run in five innings.
Lee Yong-joon, who gained momentum, continued to rotate the starting rotation by showing good pitching every day until early May. The performance was so great that the story of the Rookie of the Year was once mentioned.
Lee Yong-joon, who met during NC's CAMP 1 (finishing training), which was recently completed, said, "I was confident about this period. In fact, I didn't enter the starting rotation from the beginning, but Widener joined because he was injured, he said. "I wanted to have fun because I liked the starting lineup itself rather than thinking I should do well." I worked hard without thinking about it, but the results were good," he said.
However, Lee Yong-joon's rise began to slow down in mid-May. I lost my stamina, and my lack of experience also held me back. After several readjustments in the Futures (second-tier) league since then, he took the mound mainly as a bullpen pitcher in the second half. His final performance this season was 3 wins, 4 losses and 4.30 ERA in 24 games (67 innings and 12 starts).
Lee Yong-joon said, "The mental difficulty lasted for a long time. The coaches advised me that there were times when I fell, but the bad results were repeated as I kept thinking "You have to do well," adding, "Coach Jeon Hyung-do also said, 'I always think your ball is good.' In the first half, he tried to fight the batters, but in the second half, he seems to be shrinking. He said, "Why don't you do it with confidence?" Looking back now, I think I was fighting myself rather than the batters in the second half of the year, he said.
Although the good trend did not last, Lee Yong-joon, who achieved a meaningful enough performance during the regular league. In particular, he faced an unforgettable moment in autumn baseball. In Game 4 of the playoffs against KT, NC had a chance to take the mound in the top of the sixth inning, trailing 0-8. Unfortunately, the results were not good with five hits, one home run, two outs, and three strikeouts in three innings, including a solo shot to the left by Anthony Alford, but he gained valuable experience.
Lee Yong-joon said, "I joined (entry) from the playoffs, and I remembered when I was young. "When I was young, I wanted to play a lot while watching fall baseball on TV," he said. "After playing playoffs, I knew why the best players wanted to go to the Korean Series. The atmosphere was different and grand. The feeling was completely different," he nodded.
In the meantime, he said, "It was my first win when I played with KT this year. KT's batting lineup had a lot of right-handed hitters, so when I was in my prime, I had a good performance with my slider, he said. "Compared to the regular league, if the batters felt like they were hitting once they got used to (the batting order) round, I felt they were playing together in the bottom of the ninth inning from the first at-bat in the fall baseball." "When I went to the mound, my concentration (of the opposing players) itself was different," he explained.
Lee Yong-joon continued, "When I went up, the score difference was a lot behind. The coach also said, "I wish I could feel the postseason," adding, "I also thought of doing what I wanted to do in this situation rather than throwing well." I threw it because it was a big stage and when would there be such an opportunity in baseball life. "I hit a home run at that time, but it remains a good memory," he said.
Especially during the postseason, the support of many fans helped Lee Yong-joon a lot. Fans filled the stadium for the first fall baseball game at Changwon NC Park. NC unfortunately failed to sell out in the wild-card game against the Doosan Bears at home and the third semi-playoff against th
Lee Yong-joon said, "When I played fall baseball, my heart jumped every time I saw a lot of spectators. Many fans liked it because we were good at baseball. Next year, I will try to get more spectators to come to "Enpak (Changwon NC Park)," he said, clenched his two fists.
He then said, "From the opening entry to the fall baseball. I think I learned a lot from this season. "I think this experience will be of great help next season," he added.
Lee Yong-joon's position in the 2024 season is likely to be a starting pitcher. NC manager Kang In-kwon said, "I have a lot of worries about setting up the starting lineup. "I'm thinking about it," he said, adding, "Lee Yong-joon is also a candidate." Here, Lee Yong-joon is also comfortable in selecting.
"I experienced both the starter and bullpen, and it was definitely better and more fun to start," he said. "I have a lot of good memories when I started."
To this end, Lee Yong-joon was sweating with the goal of improving his skills in CAMP 1 after the season. "I had a meeting with the coach and the data team to figure out what I lacked and what I needed to improve. "I trained accordingly and made a routine," he said. "I tried to upgrade the breaking ball by consulting the coach. "I'm trying to do better in the mental part next year," he said.
In addition, Lee Yong-joon said, "In the first half of this year, we will continue to do well in the spring camp and do well next season." If you have started half of this year, you want to start more games next year than this year. "I want to stand on the mound of the first team more."
Lee's best teammate is Choi Sung-young. Choi Sung-young is a left-hander who played all-weather this year and recorded 5 wins, 4 losses and a 4.86 ERA in 18 games (66.2 innings, 13 starts).
Lee Yong-joon said, "All the seniors took good care of me, but Sung-young (Choi) is the senior who shared the same joy and sorrow when I was in trouble. Unfortunately, when there was a gap in the selection team, I supported it as a long-relief, and when Sung-young (Choi) selected, I was a long-relief. Sung-young is like a real brother to me," he said, expressing his friendliness.
At the recently concluded Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023, NC produced four national teams: Shin Min-hyuk and Kim Young-kyu (pitcher), Kim Joo-won (striker), and Kim Hyung-joon (striker). Their performance is another motivation for Lee Yong-joon.
Lee Yong-joon said, "Honestly, I got greedy. A national team is a dream for an athlete. My goal in baseball was to play for the national team as well. It was cool to see them go and do it, he said. "(Kim) Joo-won made three hits in the match against Taiwan, and it was cool." I don't usually say that, but I said, "Well done today." It was cool,' he said. I thought I wanted to run with these players. "I heard that if you play in an international competition, you can grow one step further," he said.
The NC club believes in Lee Yong-joon's growth. Lee Yong-joon is currently participating in a driving line camp in Tokyo, Japan, with the help of the club, along with Shin Young-woo and Seo Eui-tae. Lee Yong-joon's dream, which is attracting so much attention, is to establish himself as a starting pitcher who gives solid faith.
"I'm confident in fastball, and I think it's my advantage to enjoy fighting with batters on the mound," he said, adding, "I want to become a more stable starter next year based on this year's experience."