KIA Tigers transfer student Joo Hyo-sang (26) expressed his aspirations to seize new opportunities.

Joo Hyo-sang said in an interview at the spring camp held on the 6th (Korean time) at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, USA, “His physical condition is really good. The arms are also better than I thought. I think he can improve his condition more if he raises the tempo a little more.”

Joo Hyo-sang, who joined Kiwoom as the first pick in the 2016 rookie draft, moved the team to KIA through a trade in November of last year. In order to bring Hyo-sang Joo, the KIA highly appreciated Hyo-sang Joo to the extent of giving away the right to pick in the second round of the 2024 rookie draft.

Joo Hyo-sang, who came to the new team, said, “I was really happy because KIA seemed to have a big heart for me. On the one hand, a great opportunity came to me. Real opportunity doesn’t come to just anyone. When such a big opportunity comes, I want to seize it well. The day of the trade happened to be my birthday. In my heart, I thought I had received a birthday present. I came to KIA with a good heart.”

As a catcher, there are a lot of things to prepare when you go to a new team. It is necessary to quickly grasp the pitch type, pitch quality, strengths and tendencies of new pitchers. Joo Hyo-sang, who gets to know the pitchers by receiving pitches every day, studies hard enough to write down pitchers’ pitches and tendencies in his notebook even during breaks.

Joo Hyo-sang said, “There are many good pitchers in the KIA. It is important for me to quickly recognize pitchers’ tendencies. It’s a problem I have to overcome quickly, but there are many good pitchers, so I have fun receiving the ball and it’s good.” “I haven’t received the ball from many pitchers yet, but I was surprised that (Yu) Seung-cheol was better than I thought. When I first got the ball, I was really surprised. I think Seungcheol will do really well this year,” he said, talking about a memorable pitcher.

Joo Hyo-sang, who asked Shin Bum-soo, who trained together, about pitchers throwing two-seams, said, “I saw that the pitchers who threw two-seams had their own two-seam signatures. However, if the change in two-seam is not severe, I tend to use it along with the fastball sign and let the pitcher throw it freely. So I asked who the pitchers were throwing two-seams,” he explained the content of the question.

KIA transferred Park Dong-won, who played an active role as the main catcher last season, to LG. Joo Hyo-sang, Han Seung-taek, Shin Beom-soo, and Kim Seon-woo compete for the main catcher this season. 슬롯사이트

Hyo-sang Joo, who faced the opportunity to become the main catcher, said, “I also have a strong desire to play in many games. However, he has a gap of about two years, so he tries not to prepare in a hurry. If you rush ahead of your mind, you may end up with worse results. I think I just have to do my best and play when the coach appoints me according to the situation. If you do that and get good grades, you become the main catcher, or you become the backup catcher. I just want to prepare well and play well this season,” he said of his mindset for the main catcher competition.

Joo Hyo-sang, who said, “I want to play full-time once” as a goal for this season, said, “I want to stay in the first team for a long time without getting hurt and not going down to the second team. It would be greedy if I wanted to have good batting results, but since I prepared well, I wonder if the results will follow that much.”