“Defense comes first.”

Doosan Bears head coach Lee Seung-yeop opened up about his concerns about his catching staff ahead of the team’s game against the KT Wiz in Jamsil on Saturday. The manager’s woes have deepened recently, as Yang Yang-ji (36), the starting catcher and centerpiece of the team’s offense, has been sidelined with a side injury.

Doosan was held to just two hits in a 0-1 loss at Jamsil KT on May 15. Starting pitcher Raul Alcantara did his job with seven scoreless innings, but the lack of offensive support prevented him from getting the win. Alcantara was paired with catcher Seung-hyun Jang on this day. Seung-hyun Jang helped Alcantara’s no-hitter with a good pitching lead and tight defense. He even thwarted KT’s double-steal attempt in the top of the sixth inning. However, he was silent on offense, going 0-for-3, showing a contrast between his defense and offense.

Lee said, “I can’t help it because Yang Ji is out. Jang Seung-hyun is batting bottom of the order, but I’m happy with his defense,” Lee said. “For a catcher, offense is a bonus. Defense is the priority. If you think about offense, Park Yoo-yeon should be the starting catcher, but if you think about defense, Jang Seung-hyun’s importance is bound to increase.”스포츠토토

The backup catcher, Park Yoo-yeon, 25, has shown her offensive talent by producing long balls in August. However, with less than 30 career first-team appearances (23), it would be a mistake to entrust her with the starting job right away. Lee plans to rely on the combination of Jang Seung-hyun and backup Park Yoo-yeon to get the job done until Yang returns.