Lee Seung-yeop Talks about His Feelings on the Lotte Marines Homepage

“I have finished adapting to Japanese baseball for this season, and my ultimate goal is to play in the Major Leagues.”

Lee Seung-yeop (29, Lotte Marines) candidly talked about his current situation and future.

On the English version of the Lotte Marines homepage (http://www.marines.co.jp) on April 19, Lee said that, starting this year, he has become comfortable with everything, and that he believes he has become accustomed to playing baseball in Japan.

He implied that he has accumulated much experience this season in contrast to last year, in which he only analyzed videos of other pitchers, resulting in a difficult year in which he didn’t know the type of pitcher he was facing and their arsenal of pitches.

Lee noted, “I believe I improved my batting skills significantly. I gained confidence and easiness in Japan over the past year. My goal this year is to contribute to the team’s victories through the playoffs and win the championship.”

However, Lee added that he has always wanted to play abroad and wants to play in the Major Leagues some day.

In other words, he means that he doesn’t care about which team, as long as he can become a Major Leaguer.

Lee also expressed his gratitude to Kim Seong-geun, the current instructor of Lotte Marines and former LG Twins coach, saying that he respects Kim and that Kim gave him much assistance and has helped him to live a comfortable life in Japan.

Lee, who said that his wife would give birth to a child on August 5, revealed his desire to have many children, saying that although the gender of his child is a secret, he has agreed with his wife to have four children.

Lee is currently on a hot streak, hitting his fourth home run in the game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on April 18, breaking out of his slump from last year.

Lee’s current batting average is 0.295 with eight RBIs and nine runs.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com