As an official commander… Director Choi Won-ho “The foundation for winning baseball!”
“The foundation for winning baseball!”
Choi Won-ho, the new manager of Hanwha, took the first official step after taking office. On the 12th, we will play the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ away game against SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon. After the match against Samsung in Daejeon on the 11th, Hanwha terminated the contract with manager Carlos Subero and appointed Futures manager Choi Won-ho as the 13th manager. He signed a total of 1.4 billion won over three years. In November 2019, coach Choi Won-ho took over as the future manager of the Hanwha Eagles. I have a memory of leading the first team as an acting manager since June 2020.
The following is a Q&A with director Choi Won-ho.
Q. How do you feel about taking office?
“I was suddenly appointed and I am in a state of disarray. We have to start playing today. I asked the senior players not to be shaken as much as possible. First of all, we are going to have a stable operation so that we can continue the good atmosphere.”
Q. What is different from when you took on the role of acting supervisor three years ago?
“At the time, it came out of 14 consecutive losses. The atmosphere at the club was not good, so I wanted a big change, and I sympathized with that part. If I started with a major change at that time, I think the recent performance is fine. It seems a little different to start in the direction of minimizing change.”
Q. You must have been given an assignment about winning baseball. What kind of baseball do you think should be played?
“I didn’t get an order to play (point out) winning baseball. From next year, I really have to play winning baseball from the beginning of the season, but in order to do that, he said that I need to set up to win this year. What the club talked about was whether the fielder or pitcher could set up for it. Players have played in a wide range of positions. Now, I plan to select a position that can maximize the advantage, which is a little more reduced, and take a fixed lineup selected with players in good batting condition. In the case of pitchers, it is about the concept of a winning group of about 3 people including the finisher.”
“It is true that coach Subero helped me to experience various things in various positions. Even at the club, I hoped that coach Subero would succeed what he had achieved. Pitcher management, young players management, and active base play are areas that have changed since coach Subero came. I feel we need a team with a lot of young players. I want the club to continue doing that.”
“In the case of a slight change, if the shift was done in a general way without the pitcher’s consent, now I want to get consent. (Dawn) I had a coaching staff meeting at 1:30. I surveyed the players this afternoon. As a result, many players said that it would be better if it was limited to left-handed sluggers. In that case, I will make an extreme shift, and I try to refrain from running when runners are on 1st and 3rd base or when I can induce double play. I think the important thing is how effectively the pitcher can pitch, not how the defender shifts for defense. It can touch the pitcher’s planting and lead to a decline in performance. It’s not that I won’t do it at all, but the left-handed hitter’s extreme shift, which has a high probability within the line desired by pitchers, has a high success rate, so I’m going to apply it that way.”
Q. The sluggishness of foreign batters in April was remarkable.
“Even the captain felt sorry. Smith wasn’t good either, and O’Grady was sluggish. When O’Gredi first came down to the Futures, the balance was off. His pelvis fell backwards as he couldn’t shift his weight to his front leg. There was a case where he was hit while winding the bat. He came up in the process of making amends. He got better in practice, but he hasn’t come out as much in matches yet. I am going to go to the double system with the Futures hitting coach. He thought it was good because he could get a quick picture of all the players in one place. Coach Jung Hyeon-seok came while going through revision work. He’s gotten a little better, but he thinks he needs to get better. After looking at the condition, we plan to discuss with the hitting coach to decide when to put in.”
Q. Is there anything you said to the players?
“I talked about teamwork. Isn’t it a messy atmosphere? Special requests were made to senior players. In general, it is seen as a problem with teamwork. It is necessary to be aware of each area in charge, and if you do your best there, teamwork will naturally occur. (Ojilap) is when you care about things that are not yours, and the more organizations like that, the less teamwork there is. I emphasized it because I thought that teamwork would be created if I knew my area and did my best in what I was responsible for.”
“Also, among the players, there are many cases where players who are weak and mentally weak have negative thoughts. If not, you have to find a way. Most of those players find excuses. I told them to look back at themselves, check whether they are positive or negative, and if they are looking for an excuse to be negative, change it. If you constantly find a way and move forward, you think that even if good results don’t come out right away, they will come later. With a positive mindset, I said to go forward day by day, season by season.”
Q. Does O’Grady go through a fix before playing?
“I will talk to my hitting coach every day as I watch him train. He is not a hitter, but he said that the feeling of hitting comes suddenly in an instant. I will consult every day with the coaches who are in charge of their area of expertise. Today is not a start, but I can go out tomorrow. O’Grady could be better than the others. He doesn’t have to force himself out. The last few games have been in a good mood, so we will discuss that with the batting team and decide.”
Q. It is said that the role of Pil Seung-jo is clarified, but did the outline come out at least roughly?
“Pitching coach Park Seung-min, bullpen coach Lee Dong-geol, head coach Lee Dae-jin and I are sharing opinions. Park Sang-eon, Kang Jae-min, and Kim Seo-hyun, who are in charge of finishing, are considered as the winning team.”
Q. I have concerns about you because you are close to general manager Son Hyuk.
“I appealed for the operation I wanted to do. He said that he would operate with a lot of weight on the opinions of experts in each part, not dogmatically. If you go to the extreme, the parts you are concerned about can become reality, and then you can go the wrong way when you have to find wise ways to deal with it, so I try to make decisions respecting the judgment of part coaches.”
Q. Do you have any goals for this year?
“I think we need to operate more actively within the guidelines that can minimize injuries to players. In the big picture, the recent baseball trend has not increased the number of wins from the beginning of the game compared to the past in the 1990s. If you give some time to the starters, middle pitchers, and hitters, the operating point of the game will be in the middle and late stages. Personally, I think it’s important how to manage mid-game when you’re leading, and how to manage when you’re being led. If it used to be 90% of the time, shouldn’t the bench intervene more than 10-20% now? The bench intervention we are talking about here is a part related to strategy or player replacement.”
Q. About the win rate.
“If you go into the game and watch the first half, you will have a sense of whether or not you can catch today’s game. We will operate according to the situation of each game 스포츠토토.”
Q. Moon Dong-ju has improved a lot. How do you plan to spend the season?
“Moon Dong-ju is a fast-throwing pitcher, so there is definitely a risk of injury. He talks about that part with the club, so he primarily tries to take 4 days off and refrain from pitching. If he goes in tomorrow, he’ll take 5 days off, and when he starts on Tuesday, he’ll try to give him one more turn. I’m going to check again this week or next week to listen to the doctor’s opinion and see how it has changed from before the season. Details such as innings and the number of pitches will have to be decided gradually.”