“It’s a familiar stadium, but I’m excited to train with my new brothers.”
The youngest member of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games baseball team to play professionally is Kim Dong-heon, 19, a catcher for the Kiwoom Heroes. Kim is just a rookie who graduated from Chungam High School in February this year and made his debut this season.
However, he immediately made his mark on the professional scene, playing 99 games for his club. Based on this performance, Ryu Joong-il, the head coach of the Korean National Baseball Team, made the bold decision to select the rookie catcher as the second catcher.
The first training session of the Hangzhou Asian Games baseball team at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on March 23. “It’s a familiar stadium, but I’m excited to train with my new brothers,” said Kim, who was wearing the national team’s uniform for the first time. “It’s my first year as a professional and it feels really good to be selected for the national team. But it’s good to feel good, and it’s a position with a lot of responsibility, so I’m nervous and trying to focus even more,” he said.
It was his first time working with the national team pitchers. After receiving balls from Kim Young-kyu (NC), Jung Woo-young (LG), and Jang Hyun-seok (Masan Yongmago-LA Dodgers), Kim said, “There are still a lot of pitchers I need to learn. However, when I received the balls of the three players today, I realized that they were pitching so well, so I realized that it was the national team. I’ve been focusing more on my defense to become a catcher who can match the skills of the varsity pitchers.”
He is the second youngest player on the team after Jang Hyun-seok, who is still in high school. “I think I need to bring a lot of energy to the dugout and be the one to call out the plays that happen during the game, so I can do a good job without being nervous when I’m on the field,” said Kim Dong-heon.스포츠토토
Kim Dong-heon, who hasn’t gotten to know his teammates very well yet, said, “But my teammate (Kim) Hye-sung is the captain and he tries to take care of me a lot. He tries to talk to me more because I don’t have anyone close to me yet. He said, “Let’s do well together.
“It’s a really important position, and I’m grateful to have been chosen. I will do my best to make up for the other players who didn’t make it. I don’t know if I’ll be playing as a starter or a backup, but I’ll be eager to take on the role I’m given. I will do my best to win the gold medal, not for myself, but for the Korean team.”