To exaggerate a little, it was hard to understand. During the off-season, he gained 13 kilograms and bulked up. Lee Won-seok (26), an outfielder of the Hanwha Eagles in the professional baseball league, is desperately preparing for the new season, spending a more intense winter than ever before. 

After finishing the season last year, Lee began to bulk up in earnest. According to the KBO's official profile, Lee is 177 centimeters tall and weighs 69 kilograms. With his small physique, Lee boasts the best defense and running base in the Hanwha Eagles team. He did not need to gain weight to save his fast feet. 

However, Lee felt the need for change and volunteered for an intensive bulk-up project. He successfully gained 6 kilograms during the Miyazaki Finishing Camp in Japan in November last year, and gained 7 kilograms more through personal training even during the inactive period. He gained 13 kilograms in just three months. He gained 68 kilograms at the end of the season, but has now gained up to 81 kilograms. 

"This is the first time I've gained this much weight," said Lee Won-seok, who was embarrassed. "I ate six meals a day, but I also ate protein while focusing on meals and meat. Along with my diet, I did a lot of weight lifting. I definitely feel energized. I thought my elasticity would be dull, but I gained more strength than I thought." 메이저놀이터

For Lee Won-seok, who has lived a skinny body all his life and has not gained weight, eating 6 meals a day was not something he could do with his normal mind. There is a reason why he devoted himself to bulk-up while enduring the pain of forcing him to keep putting food in his mouth. 

"Later last year, I lost my strength and physical stamina. As I got out of shape, I felt like my bat became heavier. I thought it was a physical issue, and I decided to consult my training coach to gain weight. I made the change with the determination that it would be the last one," he said. "I was worried that my running would slow down, but I found a healthy way to gain weight and got advice from my coach. I am also exercising sprint a lot to maintain speed." 

After graduating from Chungam High School, Lee Won-seok, a right-handed outfielder who joined Hanwha as the 34th overall pick in the second round of four rounds in 2018, has made a leap forward as a first-team player who can play as a starting member or backup for more than 100 days in the past two years. He had a batting average of 233 (31 hits in 133 times at bat) in 87 games last year, with 13 RBIs and eight steals. He played in the most games played in an individual season, gradually increasing his role in his team. 

After Kim Kyung-moon took the helm of Hanwha in early June, Lee was given the opportunity to play as the starting pitcher. He showed some potential, but failed to fully utilize the opportunity. "The coach gave me a lot of chances, but I was disappointed that I didn't meet my expectations. So I tried harder this offseason and didn't play for a day. I just ate and slept while exercising," Lee said. 

To Lee, who is good at defense and base running, batting is always a challenge. Although it was not a huge record last year, he also lowered the strikeout rate, increased the contact rate, and improved the ability to deal with right-handed pitchers. He improved in his own right, but it did not show any tangible results. "As I was skinny, I tend to be pushed by the ball when hitting. I try to speed up my batting so that things that can be caught by the infield can get out. I'm not trying to bulk up to hit long distances. I want to create more in-play balls and increase the speed of my pitches," Lee said, explaining his batting plan to improve the quality of his pitches. Taking Mookie Betts as his role model, Lee had a slightly bigger batting average than his size, but now he has set a batting direction to maximize his strengths. 

Hanwha is joined by center fielder Esteban Floral as its new foreign hitter this year. His main position is Lee Won-seok, the center fielder, but he can also play in the corner outfield. He also worked hard to strengthen the basic defense skills in the closing camp. Lee, who showed good defense several times last year, said, "Basic defense is more important than brilliant. I made small mistakes, but I am trying to supplement them by watching last year's defense videos. I will make everyone believe when a hit comes to me." 

As he succeeded in bulk-up while enduring the most difficult pain in his life, his confidence in the new season has grown. "If I used to have a big mind like, 'What should I do?' now I keep expecting myself," confident Lee Won-seok said. "I have been in the opening entry for the third consecutive year, and this year I want to be a help to my team by continuing to play in the first team from the opening game to the last game of the season. I will do my best at any given opportunity. My personal goal is not to go to Seosan (where there is a second team)," he said.