LG Twins hitting prospect Lee Ju-hyung, 22, is trying his hand at second base again. After joining the team as an infielder, Lee switched to the outfield and returned from military service at the end of February. Recently called up to the first team, Lee has been practicing his second base defense. Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said he intends to train Lee as a second baseman again.
Drafted by LG in the second round (13th overall) in 2020 after graduating from Gyeongnam High School, Lee showed talent in both offense and defense during his high school career. After spending his first season in the Futures League as a second baseman, Lee switched to the outfield. “I wanted to move up quickly in the first team, so I thought I could be competitive if I played the outfield. At the time, there were seniors as backups in the infield, so I switched to the outfield,” Lee said.
Since returning from military service in February, Lee has been playing in the outfield (center field and right field) in the Futures League. Lee was called up to the first team on May 25 after top outfield prospect Lee Jae-won was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Before the game on May 4, head coach Yoon Kyung-yeop revealed his plans for Lee’s conversion to second base. Yoon said, “I had never seen Lee Ju-hyung play second base before. Before training, I had him practice his second base defense one-on-one with defense coach Kim Il-kyung. I had him practice for three or four days, and I thought it was possible,” he said.
“This year, I only played as an outfielder in the second team. I’m going to play second base along with the outfield. They said he 스포츠토토 had a mouth (at second base), but it can be fixed. I think he has a lot of potential. The way he handles the glove and the way he moves, I think he can compete at second base if we let him die this year and next year in spring training.”
The plan is to get Lee back to training at second base for the foreseeable future. “I hope (Seo) does well, but I also have to think about when he doesn’t,” Yeom said. If he fails this year, whoever plays second base has to be ready. I’m thinking of putting Joo Hyung-yi and (Song) Chan-i together and giving it a try. It’s going to be very hard,” he said, predicting a hell of a training camp. With a second baseman problem, LG plans to create a variety of options.
Lee has the batting talent. In 26 games in the 2020 Futures League in his rookie year, Lee batted .356 (31-for-87) with four home runs, 22 RBIs, a .478 on-base percentage, a .621 slugging percentage and a 1.099 OPS.
In 2021, he was called up to active duty after batting 3-for-33 (43-for-130) with four home runs, 23 RBIs, a .447 on-base percentage, a .523 slugging percentage, and a .970 OPS in 40 games with the second team.
Upon his discharge at the end of February, he returned to the team to get fit and then started playing in late April, batting 3-for-5 (25-for-86) with two home runs, 11 RBIs, a .453 on-base percentage, a .577 slugging percentage, and a 1.030 OPS in 24 games.