Doosan Bears' "Last First Nomination" pitcher Lee Byung-hun is raising his physical condition to the extent that he does not overdo himself as much as possible after ankle surgery last fall. Lee Byung-hun, who consistently throws bullpen pitches in spring camp, is preparing to play as a key bullpen for the second consecutive year through a challenge to install a splitter. 스포츠토토

Lee Byung-hun, who joined Doosan as the first designated player in 2022, pitched in 77 games (65.1 innings) in the 2024 season, and spent his career high season with 6-1, 1 save, 22 holds, 2.89 ERA, 57 strikeouts, and WHIP 1.45. Lee Byung-hun's record of 77 appearances is the number one in the most appearances in the 2024 season along with SSG Landers pitcher Noh Kyung-eun. 

In particular, Lee Byung-hun took the mound in relief against the Samsung Lions in Jamsil on September 17 and reached the 20 hold mark in his first season with 0.2 innings of no hit, one strikeout, and one walk.

With this, Lee became the youngest left-hander to hold 20 holds (21 years, 3 months and 13 days) in the KBO League. The previous record was set on Sept. 24, 2006, when Jung Woo-ram (then of the SK Wyverns) achieved 20 holds for the season against the Incheon Samsung Lions. Lee has become the hero of the new record with a gap of just 10 days. 

Lee Byung-hun was included in the preliminary entry for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament held last fall.

However, he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments in his ankle, which he had postponed as he was excluded from the final training list for the national team. 

At the time, Lee Byung-hun said, "I lacked my skills, and I thought it was better. At this point, I thought it would be better to have surgery as early as possible. I only need about two months of rehabilitation, so there is no problem in preparing for next season. I have a desire to do better next year, but I am satisfied that I will be able to solve my ankle problem and throw it healthy. I will achieve better results next season and try to join the WBC national team in the year after next." 

After a solid period of rehabilitation during the off-season, Lee joined the Blacktown Spring camp in Australia to prepare for the 2025 season. By pitching in the camp bullpen five times, Lee was gradually improving his pitching conditions. 

Lee Byung-hun, who met with reporters at Blacktown Ballpark near Sydney, Australia on the 9th, said, "I came to the camp and even played my fifth bullpen pitch, but I feel like my pace is coming up slower than I thought. It is natural because preparations for the offseason have been delayed due to ankle surgery. It can get harder if you try to pull it up for no reason. I try to throw the ball more comfortably while not overdoing it." 

As the pitching pace is slowly rising, Lee Byung-hun does not want to pay as much attention as possible to his arrest. 

"I purposely didn't measure my ball speed even when pitching in the bullpen today (September 9). As my pitching pace was going up slowly, I thought I was under too much stress if I pay attention to my ball speed. I tried to pay more attention to the balance of my pitching rather than to my ball speed or control. I threw while thinking about the points that I could use more power," Lee said. 

Lee Byung-hun, like his teammate Kim Taek-yeon, is working hard from the spring camp to install the splitter in the 2025 season. Lee Byung-hun is expected to be easier to install the new pitch type because he has experience using the splitter in his past school days.

Lee Byung-hun said, "I will continue to practice the splitter. It doesn't matter if I don't use it this year, but I think I will need to throw one or two sliders when my main weapon doesn't work. It won't be too big, so I will practice only once in a while to get a good ball in," he explained. 

Last year, Lee was the hardest-throwing pitcher in his team's bullpen, playing 77 games and 65.1 innings. However, Lee vowed to challenge himself in many games and innings in the 2025 season as well. 

"I don't feel much of the aftermath after I threw a lot of balls last year," Lee said. "On the contrary, it seems to be affected by the fact that I couldn't move my legs properly during the offseason due to surgery," Lee said. "I hope that I will pull myself up well in the Australian camp so that I can at least take the mound in real games. If I am well prepared, I would like to challenge myself to as many games and innings as I did last year. I will try my best to stay on the mound without getting hurt."