"Changing selection after 5 years." NC Lee Yong-chan said, "My goal is not to skip the rotation."

"Changing selection after 5 years." NC Lee Yong-chan said, "My goal is not to skip the rotation."

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NC Dinos pitcher Lee Yong-chan expressed his determination to switch to the starting pitcher for the first time in five years.스포츠토토

The NC team left for training in Arizona on the 30th.

At the departure hall, Lee Yong-chan said, "The feeling of leaving training is the same as before. It's been a long time since I changed my position, so I'll have to go and think a lot about how to build my body and how to prepare for the season."

Lee Yong-chan, who signed with NC in May 2021, has been playing the closing role ever since then and plans to switch to the starting lineup this year.

Lee Yong-chan, who joined the Doosan Bears in 2007, is also a player who switched to Doosan in 2018, changed his role to a bullpen in the 2019 postseason, and moved to NC in 2021 after being injured in early 2020.

After becoming a free agent after the 2024 season, he signed a three-year contract of 100 million won, 300 million won in guarantees and 600 million won in options only on the 24th. As the proportion of options is large, there is also a burden to perform well in the 2025 season.

Lee Yong-chan, who had 3-9 losses, 16 saves and a 6.13 ERA in 57 games in the 2024 season, said, "I was young when I started before, and now I'm old. I remember it was more physically difficult to start than the bullpen, so I'll have to prepare well for the season."

First of all, he showed confidence in increasing the number of pitches. "If there are no injury variables, it is enough to increase the number of pitches to around 100 in time for the opening game," he said. "The fact that the pitch clock system is introduced and changes in the automatic pitching determination system (ABS) are expected is another variable that is unlikely to benefit pitchers."

In response to criticism that the pitching tempo is slow, Lee Yong-chan said, "It's slow, but if you go out as a starter, you have to match it," adding, "If you go out to the finish line, it's a crisis and you have to use all your strength for every pitch, so you have to slow down."

Regarding his goals for the new season, he said, "I don't particularly think about wins, and I don't want to skip rotation," adding, "The number of innings will follow just that, and the goal is to do a lot of quality starts (pitching more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs)."

When asked if he had volunteered to switch to the starting position, Lee Yong-chan replied with a smile, "I thought I was playing as a starter even when I came to NC, but I have never been in a position at my disposal while playing baseball."

Lee Yong-chan vowed, "I will quickly adapt to the feeling of throwing as a starter and prepare well to play full-time in the new season."