The Lotte Giants returned to Korea via Incheon International Airport on Saturday. After spring camps in Tainan, Taiwan, and Miyazaki, Japan, Lotte will start its exhibition games against the KIA Tigers at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Saturday.메이저놀이터

Lotte has named a total of four players as the MVP of its spring camp. Son Ho-young was named on the mound despite the fact that it was the first spring camp hosted by "young blood" Park Jin and Chung Hyun-soo, and Jang Doo-sung and Lotte among the hitters.

Son Ho-young, who was drafted by the LG Twins as the 23rd overall pick in the second and third rounds of the 2020 Rookie Draft, wore the Lotte jersey through a trade on March 30 last year. He was such a talented player that he challenged the Major League immediately after graduating from Chunghoon High School, but failed to blossom into LG. However, it was different at Lotte.

Last year, Son appeared in 102 games, including 30 consecutive hits, tied for the third-highest total in KBO League history, and posted an impressive record of 126 hits, 18 homers, 78 RBIs, 70 runs scored, a batting average of 0.317 OPS of 0.892. The only regret was that he did not play the full-time season due to his injury. Nevertheless, Son has become the main third baseman by hitting the most home runs in his team.

How was the spring camp in Lotte's uniform? "I'm most satisfied that I came here safely. I took a lot of training from the camp, and I think I did well," Son Ho-young told reporters after returning home on Tuesday. "I think the camp always makes me nervous. However, because I do a lot of team play training, I feel similar to any other team."

This applies to all players, but Son has experienced more difficult times than anyone else due to his injury. In response, Lotte dispatched Son to a center specializing in muscle, mobility training, rehabilitation, and injury prevention in Tokyo last winter. The four-week experience helped a lot in this camp. "I think it was definitely effective in that I am not getting hurt," Son said with a smile. "I am in good physical condition. I am not sick at all."

Son has become indispensable to Lotte now. However, Son has never lost his initial commitment. Still, he did not think of himself as a starting player. When asked if the main competition was different, Son said, "I don't think that the main competition will be guaranteed, but rather that the main competition will come first. There was nothing different about him because he thought that he would get a chance before other players and go to the starting position."

Son Ho-young's attack ability was already demonstrated through his performance last year. For this reason, he spent a lot of time on defense during this camp. "I think I played defense the most in this camp. I made a lot of mistakes in the early days of this season. I also thought positively and paid a lot of attention to defense," he said during the camp.

Lotte did not make the postseason stage for the seventh consecutive year from 2017 to last year. The team is in line with the dark ages when it was called the "password." As a result, Lotte played quite a few games early on, including against the Taiwanese WBC national team and against Japanese teams. Now it is time to bring this precious experience to practical use.

"When I saw Japanese players, I thought they had good control. I was lucky to see such a good ball. I came from Japan because I got a lot better," Son Ho-young said. "I think all players would think so. I personally have high expectations because they prepared well. Last year, I felt like I was going to die every day, but now I have some room in the squad. I think I am heading in a better direction."

So, what is his goal this season? "He wants to play more games than last year. If he played 100 games last year, he wants to play 120 games this year, and then 144 games this year." "I hope he can play all 144 games this year." Lotte's performance will be better than last year if Son Ho-young stays healthy throughout this season.