Lee Ho-joon, the new manager of the NC Dinos, watched the spring camp training of the players going back and forth between Changwon NC Park and Masan Baseball Stadium on Wednesday. The baseball team used NC Park and the pitching team used Masan Baseball Stadium on the day.메이저사이트

Lee expressed his intention to use the seven-starter system a day earlier on Saturday. It was shocking. The KBO League plays up to six games a week because every Monday is a fixed rest day. There are usually no seven players on the starting lineup. It is not easy to see the six-starter system.

Still, Lee's intention was clear. It was inevitable due to NC`s situation. Shin Min-hyuk (right elbow bone fragment removal surgery) and Kim Young-kyu (shoulder injury) are recovering from injuries. Even if they return, they have no choice but to pitch under supervision early in the season.

If Shin Min-hyuk and Kim Young-kyu are added to the five existing starting pitchers, and one more pitcher is added depending on the results of the mound, the head coach's plan was to have seven to eight pitchers in the starting team alone. 

Foreign pitchers who will center the starting lineup will take five to six days off and pitch normally. Others plan to combine various rotation combinations of Korean pitchers. Pitcher coach Lee Yong-hoon was scheduled to communicate with Lee by drawing up three rotation plans.

Of course, it is not a permanent plan. Shin and Kim will return to their normal rotation to some extent. Afterwards, they will return to their normal rotation. "[Shin] Min-hyuk and (Kim) Young-kyu will be deployed immediately and take a seven-day break before going back to their normal rotation. Afterwards, if they get the hang of it, they will return to their normal rotation," Lee said on Sunday.

And after the first training session of the spring camp on Saturday, Lee received numerous calls from baseball players around him. The phone almost exploded. He had to explain about the seven-starter system.

A day later, Lee said, "I got a phone call from here and there. Two players (from the previous five starters) are sick, and if they join, wouldn't they be the seventh starter?" I was thinking that. "I was told how can seven starters work when there are six games a week?" he smiled.

However, there is also a possibility that they will change their plans depending on Shin and Kim's physical conditions. If they come back too far and make it back on the injured list, it would be a loss for both Lee and the team. The head coach expressed his regret for including the players who are recovering from the injury in the new season's plans. At the same time, he reflected on the fact that he did not give them enough time from the offseason.

"The speed of rehabilitation of players may vary depending on the weather. It is my mistake. I should have thought about rehabilitation at least by setting up a mini camp last year, but I couldn't prepare it as I tried in a hurry," Lee said. "I was disappointed. I didn't think about it that much, but this is why I was so new to the team," Lee said. "I thought it would be okay no matter what... Now that there are articles coming out, I think the players need to come up quickly. I couldn't think about it because it was my first time, and I talked about how I felt, but the players might have different thoughts after reading the article."   

Currently, Shin can pitch, but the pain has not completely disappeared. Kim Young-gyu is also under stress from the slow pace of his rehabilitation. Lee tries to give the players enough time to make a perfect recovery rather than rushing to the opening schedule.

"I'm going to think that my thoughts are not with the opening game today," Lee said. "If the players keep playing in time for the opening game, they can be in a hurry. I'm going to exclude Shin Min-hyuk and Kim Young-gyu, and Kim Tae-kyung (right elbow bone fragment removal surgery), and make a schedule."

The NC Dinos' mound is positive, although things do not go as planned. Lim Sang-hyun and Choi Woo-seok, who staged live pitching on the day, left a deep impression by showing outstanding pitching capabilities.

"I came here to see the players throw the ball, and I'm happy," Lee said. "The players I was thinking of (good) me like that. (Im) Sang-hyun just comes to mind. (Choi) Woo-suk is good, too. If you don't work hard in the offseason, you can't throw like that in the first turn," he said, smiling at the players' growth.