SSG Landers, a professional baseball team led by Lee Seung-yong (52), has nearly completed the formation of its first-team coaching staff with the hiring of Song Shin-young (46) as head coach, Kang Byung-sik (46) as hitting coach, Bae Young-soo (42) as pitching coach, and Yoon Yoseop (41) as battery coach.
SSG announced the first-team coaching staff on the 29th, saying, “We have made efforts to appoint a coaching staff with expertise and coaching ability for each part.”
Song Shin-young will be the head coach, assisting Lee Seung-yong, while experienced bench coach Cho Won-woo will guard the dugout.
Pitching coach Bae Young-soo, bullpen coach Lee Seung-ho, hitting coach Kang Byung-sik, defense coach Lee Dae-soo, offensive and infield coaches Cho Dong-hwa (third base) and Lim Jae-hyun (first base), and battery coach Yoon Yoseop will be in charge of their respective areas. SSG also plans to appoint an assistant hitting coach soon.
SSG, which fired former manager Kim Won-hyung on March 31, has been hiring a new manager and coaching staff at the same time.
The coaching staff for the Futures (second team) was completed before the appointment of the first team manager, and the appointment of the main coaching staff for the first team was delayed until after the appointment of the new manager.
SSG signed a contract with Lee on the 17th.
The team then consulted with Lee and accelerated the hiring of the first-team coaching staff.
The most prominent names are Song Shin-young, Kang Byung-sik, and Backstroke coach.
Song has a history with Lee, having played with him at the Hyundai Unicorns and Heroes.
As a pitcher, Song pitched in 709 games during his career, compiling a record of 60 wins, 51 losses, 47 saves, and 77 holds with a 4.25 ERA.
Song, who has been coaching since 2018, will be reunited in the dugout with “modern-day captain” Lee Seung-yong.
Lee said, “I’m from the Beast. The pitching department will give a lot of power to the head coach and pitching coach.”
Hitting coach Kang Byung-sik also played with Lee at Hyundai and the Heroes.
Kang served as the hitting coach for the Heroes from 2013 to this year, rotating between the first and second teams.
In the 2024 season, he will start anew with SSG.
Bae Young-soo played as a pitcher from 2000 to 2019, compiling a record of 138 wins, 122 losses, 3 saves, and 7 holds with a 4.46 ERA. He ranks seventh on the KBO’s all-time wins list.
He had a long career as one of the most dominant right-handed aces in Korean baseball, winning the regular season MVP award in 2004, but struggled with a decline in velocity after elbow ligament reconstruction surgery.
After experiencing both highs and lows on the mound, Bae began his coaching career with the Doosan Bears in 2020 and moved to the Lotte Giants in 2023.
After starting 2023 as the first-team pitching coach and finishing the season as the second-team manager, Bae recently moved to the Lotte scouting team to prepare for the Chiba Lotte Merlins in Japan.
However, SSG offered him the position of “first team pitching coach,” and he wanted to stay in the dugout. Lotte also respected Bae’s wishes. 파워볼사이트