Doosan Bears also has a rookie star. Kim Taek-yeon 19, a right-handed pitcher, seemed like the only hope he got when Doosan dropped its head to ninth place last year. Doosan built up its pride by giving a 350 million won 318,500 U.S. dollars down payment just like Hwang Joon-seo the Hanwha Eagles, the No. 1 overall pick.
That's why they were all the more cherished. Doosan banned Kim Taek-yeon, who joined the team in November last year, from catching the ball. This trend has continued until recently. There were concerns of overuse, and I worried if high-ranking sprouts that I brought after a long time would be overstretched even before my debut.
Kim Taek-yeon played 20 half-pitching games at the Icheon Bears Park on Saturday. He was impressed by all the players, the catcher who received the ball, and even the team officials.
According to a video uploaded to Doosan's YouTube channel Bears TV, Kim Taek-yeon lost control at the beginning of the pitch, but soon found stability. He ordered that he would throw it directly toward his body, and he showed enthusiasm enough to ask the staff to film the video on his mobile phone.
After throwing all 20 pitches, the staff checked the conditions of shoulders, elbows and waist, and Kim Taek-yeon answered that there was no problem. The teammate who received the ball admired, "It's a form that really doesn't use strength, but it comes straight in." Yoon Hyuk, the scout team leader, pointed out, "The tempo was fast in the beginning," but Kim Taek-yeon showed an uncharacteristic aspect of being a rookie by correcting it during the pitching process.
An official from Doosan said, "I've never seen such a guy before. It's amazing," admiring Kim Taek-yeon's stance of comparing when he felt good and when he didn't.
Although he was overlooked by Jang Hyun-suk LA Dodgers and Hwang Jun-seo Hanwha Eagles, the first-ranked player in the Major League MLB, Kim Taek-yeon was already a super high-end rising star who showed off his overwhelming skills in high school. In the high school league, he recorded 7 wins, 1 loss, 97 strikeouts, and had an ERA of 1.13 in 13 games, and he threw a lot of balls with an overwhelming pitch that caused controversy over excessive use at the U-18 baseball World Cup in September last year.
At that time, Kim Taek-yeon was at the center of controversy by pitching for five consecutive days. Although it is impossible to throw four consecutive games under the competition's regulations, he has to throw five consecutive games due to the suspended game. He pitched 178 pitches during 12 ⅓ innings for five days, contributing the most to Korea's bronze medal harvest. Doosan had to worry about it.
Through this, Kim was named the winner of the 6th Choi Dong-won Award at the presidential high school. His performance in the high school league was impressive, but the World Cup of Baseball was crucial. "He is evaluated as a player who showed the spirit of Choi Dong-won who is committed to the team the most," the selection committee said at the time. He also received the Best Pitcher Award at a high school in 2023 Baseball · Softball In Night, and the Amar Special Award at the 2023 Korean Professional Baseball Retired Player Day.
However, Doosan took a different stance. There were concerns that it would lead to injury. While joining him at the closing camp, he issued a ban on pitching. He helped him adapt to the team and gave him physical training, but he allowed him to rest on his shoulders and elbows.
Kim Taek-yeon, who met at the 2024 KBO Rookie Orientation held at the Daejeon Convention Center on the 10th, said, "When I joined the closing camp, coach Lee Seung-yeop told me never to overdo it. Honestly, if you're a rookie, you want to show it to me, but I felt grateful and more comfortable because you said that first," and added, "Coaches also told me never to overdo it even if I went to spring camp. Doosan seniors also said a lot, "I saw too many people who were overworking and failed in the season," so I was touched."
This is the kind of player Doosan has eagerly awaited. In the 2016 rookie draft, which preceded it in the Korean Series for seven consecutive years, Doosan was given the fifth pick. Doosan has steadily advanced to fall baseball since the mid-2000s. Having grabbed its third win in 2001, Doosan ranked seventh in 2003, fifth in 2011 and sixth in 2014. For this reason, Doosan has never had a higher ranking than this rookie draft.
Having started catching balls slowly since December last year, Kim tried to hone his breaking balls rather than overdoing it. "When I was in high school, I used my back door sliders and fastballs to aim for left and right courses, and I definitely felt that reverse rotation changeups and splittering, which are far from left-handed hitters, have advantages in pro baseball," he said. "I thought that many of the seniors who played left-handed games had good contact and powerful hitters in common. As the timing was right, I was able to take a lot of rest and practice more pitching."
"I want to use this game as a finishing pitcher at the closing position. If I get to go with a bullpen, I want to be a closing pitcher. It's a position that is meaningful to me and I want to try a little more. I want to do it because it's a role that I have responsibility to lose or win just because of myself," Kim said confidently.
Of course, that doesn't mean that he wants to be greedy. "If that doesn't work out, I want to be a starting pitcher. If you throw long innings, you will find it attractive," Kim said. "However, it is right to get a position that is necessary for the team. If I can go to a broadcasting station, I want to be a closing pitcher."
Just like the special management of the club, prevention of injury is a top priority for Kim. "Of course, my goal is to play one season without getting sick for a year," he said. "If I have a goal before that, I will make the entry for the opening game. The final goal is a rookie award that all rookies can receive once in their lives, which is common to all rookies. I won't look at the award, but I will do it with that goal. Rather than being rivals with anyone, I will focus on the goals I think and steps I will take," he expressed his commitment.
Doosan will hold spring camps in Sydney, Australia and Miyazaki, Japan. The team will leave Korea on March 29 and return to Korea on March 6. After 15 days of training, the team will move to Miyazaki, Japan, and play practice games with Japanese professional baseball NPB teams for the upcoming season.
Kim Taek-yeon is also preparing for the spring camp. She plans to confidently play in the main league from the first season and become a closing pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year award.
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