“What impeccable timing”: Lee Seung-yuop is back in the wilderness, and the national team has no manager...

[Financial News] ‘The National Hitter,’ former Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop, has stepped down from his batting coach position with Japan’s storied Yomiuri Giants after just one year.
The timing of Lee’s return to the ‘wilderness’ is strikingly apt: the South Korean national baseball team currently has no manager. For the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), which must find someone to lead the team at an international tournament just a month away, Lee’s next move could hardly be more welcome.
The Yomiuri club officially announced on the 14th that “batting coach Lee Seung-yuop will leave the team at the end of this season.” Lee joined Yomiuri last June after stepping down as manager of Doosan, following a call from then-manager Shinnosuke Abe, but found himself caught in unexpected turbulence. Abe left in disgrace amid a domestic violence controversy, and Yomiuri’s struggles at the plate this season added to the problems, ultimately leading Lee to leave the team.
In a message on social media, Lee offered a composed farewell, saying, “Although the season ended early, the young players gained valuable experience, so Yomiuri’s future is bright,” and, “It was moving to see again the teammates I once shared the field with.”
Soon after Lee wrapped up his time in Japan, the Korean baseball world turned its attention to the now-vacant national team manager’s position. KBO is currently struggling to find a candidate. Former manager Ryu Ji-hyun, who led the team to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and gold at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, made a surprise move to the Hanwha Eagles on the 13th, on a three-year deal worth a total of 2 billion won.
The problem is that the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), which begins on November 12 at Tokyo Dome in Japan, is just around the corner. KBO’s Power Enhancement Committee finalized its 33-player roster on the 12th, including Kim Do-young (KIA) and Ahn Hyun-min (KT), but there is no skipper to steer the squad when it gathers on the first of next month. With time running short, even appointing an interim manager is being discussed.
In this situation, former manager Lee Seung-yuop is the most attractive option for swiftly resolving KBO’s dilemma. The APBC is a stage where young prospects will form the core of the team. Lee has experience managing in the KBO League and is particularly skilled at bringing young players together with his trademark quiet charisma.



Above all, the fact that the decisive games will be played at Tokyo Dome in Japan adds to Lee’s value. As a player, he commanded the stadium as Yomiuri’s No. 4 hitter, and until recently, as a member of the Yomiuri coaching staff, he had an especially keen understanding of the latest trends in Japanese baseball and the ballpark’s characteristics. Realistically, it would be difficult to find a more perfect candidate for a stage where Asian rivals such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan face off.
KBO’s Power Enhancement Committee is looking beyond an interim manager for the immediate APBC, and is also open to appointing a permanent manager to lead the national team with a long-term perspective through the 2027 WBSC Premier12 and the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics.
Voices are already gaining traction among fans that Lee, with his wealth of international tournament experience and commanding presence, should step in as a relief pitcher for a national team in crisis. The question now is whether the ‘National Hitter,’ free at just the right time, and an increasingly pressed KBO will find themselves looking in the same direction.

[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter