Kim Seo-hyun entered his professional career after being nominated by Hanwha Eagles as the No. 1 overall pick in the first round of the 2023 Rookie Draft. Kim Seo-hyun, who has caught the eye of Major League scouts by spraying fast balls over 150km since his high school days in Seoul, started a fastball match with Ahn Woo-jin (Kium Heroes) and Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha) at the beginning of the season.
Kim Seo-hyun gained experience by recording an ERA of 4.50 in five games in April last year and one save and an ERA of 3.00 in nine games in May. However, as a result of sluggish pitching due to ball control instability since late May, he only posted one save and an ERA of 7.25 in 20 games, including moving to and from the first and second teams. Although his performance was disappointing compared to his reputation in high school, he was expected to show better performance in his second year because it was his first season since his debut.노래방알바
However, Kim did not stay in the first division for long again this season. He successfully joined the opening entry, but ended up moving down to the second division while throwing a total of five games through April 12. He was called back by the first division in mid-May, but had only one chance to take the mound, and his performance was disappointing as he allowed one run (one earned run) in one inning. His ball speed also dropped significantly. Eventually, Kim was moved back to the second division, where he tried to change into a pitching form similar to Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers).
Still, it wasn’t just difficulties that ended the first half. Kim Seo-hyun was called by the first team through a special entry ahead of a doubleheader with the Lotte Giants on the 30th of last month, but he was excluded from the first team entry the next day. However, before the KT Wiz match on the 3rd, he was registered in the first team again and allowed one walk and no runs in one inning, and succeeded in surviving the competition. Kim Seo-hyun, who was interviewed by reporters before the Futures All-Star Game on the 5th, showed a different mindset.
The “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” game between Hanwha and Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 12, 2024. Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon greets his fans after winning 4-3./My Daily
First of all, Kim Seo-hyun thought that he would go down to the second division after the doubleheader was blocked due to rain. “At first, I didn’t expect to be accompanied by the first division. I was called up for a while due to the doubleheader, but I thought I would go back to Seosan (second division). However, manager Kim Kyung-moon said, “As the first half is almost over, I would like to see you accompany me to exercise and pitch.” Afterwards, he expressed his gratitude, saying, “I didn’t expect to be registered in the first division, but thankfully, they registered after watching my pitching.”
After the game against KT on the 3rd, Kim Seo-hyun also received a phone call from manager Kim Kyung-moon. Kim Seo-hyun said, “I was on my way home when the manager called me. He asked me, ‘You did a great job today. How was it when you got on the mound?’ I was nervous because it had been a long time since I pitched. The manager told me, ‘Now, I want you to throw the ball confidently, never mind the pitching form.’
Kim Seo-hyun had high expectations since last year, but failed to settle down to a single pitching form, experiencing wandering time. Perhaps for this reason, his ball speed dropped significantly this year compared to last year. However, this is no longer the case. “I wandered a lot from the first season to the present, and came to settle down,” Kim said. “Looking back on that time, it was a waste. If it was a pitching form when I came to the professional league, I thought, “I think I would have achieved a lot of good results. Now, I’m trying not to go through a different path at all. It can be said that 90 percent of my ball speed is the same as when I was in high school.”
I’m not sure what changes will happen in the second half, but Kim Seo-hyun survived the competition for survival at the end of the first half. If Kim Seo-hyun stays in the first team, he can learn a lot from the newly recruited Yang Sang-moon, a pitching coach. Kim Seo-hyun said, “I feel a lot of awkwardness because it’s my first time with a veteran coach and a coach. However, I think that the awkwardness will be resolved if we have conversations about bad habits that I have during the season.”
Being able to throw balls up to 160 kilometers per hour is an extraordinary talent that you can’t have even if you want to. Although his growth has not been remarkable so far, he is determined to show better performance in the second half. “It is not a double-digit inning, but a single-digit inning. I will improve my skills in the first half and show better performance in the second half,” Kim Seo-hyun said, clenching his fist.