Kiwoom Heroes acting manager Seol Jong-jin unveiled the blueprint for the second half of the season.
Seol Jong-jin said during a team training interview held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 15th, "I feel a lot of pressure and responsibility."
Kiwoom announced on the 14th, "We notified Hong Won-ki, manager; Ko Hyung-wook, Director General; and Kim Chang-hyun, chief coach of their dismissals." They made the shocking decision to dismiss all three ahead of the second half of the season. Seol Jong-jin, the second team coach, will take over as acting manager, while Heo Seung-pil, the operations team leader, has been appointed as the Director General. The chief coach position will remain vacant for the rest of the season.
Acting manager Seol noted, "I briefly spoke with Manager Hong Won-ki yesterday. He said that the team's atmosphere might be unsettled, so he hopes they can gather themselves to perform well until the end of the season." He added, "This change is ultimately due to poor performance. We finished the first half with a win rate of around .300, but we aim to achieve a win rate of around .400 to .500 in the remaining games. To achieve that, we need strategy and a spirit of sacrifice, so I want to convey these aspects to the players."
Ahead of the team training, acting manager Seol conducted a players' meeting and said, "From what I observed, the team's performance was poor, so the players seemed to be down. Personally, I feel that the urgency that professional baseball players should have is lacking. In the second half, I asked them to feel that urgency and to do their best for the team and the fans."
Regarding Kiwoom's struggles in the first half, Manager Seol said, "There are certainly issues with foreign players and the starting rotation, but it seems that strategy and aggressive play did not work well. However, we are not a team that hits home runs excessively. Statistically, we have the lowest on-base percentage in the league, and our batting average with runners in scoring position is also the lowest. We couldn't hold our own and, even when we did, we couldn't score."
"That's why we want to try things we haven't done before," acting manager Seol explained, mentioning strategy and aggressive play. "Our stolen base success rate is around 80%, but we haven't been running enough. So, if we can run more, we want to attempt trying more frequently. We might call for sacrifice bunts or hit-and-run signals from the start of the game."
Regarding the composition of the first-team roster for the second half, acting manager Seol emphasized, "The roster might change one or two players, but I think the core players will likely remain the same. I will consult with the coaching staff, but I don’t plan to make significant changes from the start."
"First and foremost, revitalizing the atmosphere is essential," acting manager Seol stressed. "Let’s not lose with shame. We will do everything we can and try to win. I want us to make a sincere effort. It's not about receiving a good evaluation for me. If the players become overly accustomed to losing, they might give up. I want to create an atmosphere where we don't give up and give our best until the end."
Finally, Manager Seol said, "Please watch us. There won't be drastic changes immediately, but there will be small changes where we run more and execute more strategies than in the first half." He pledged to make a turnaround in the second half.
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