Kim Min (24), 메이저사이트 a first-round draft pick who was selected as a replacement starter for Eom Sang-baek, once again caused trouble for KT’s starting baseball team. He was kicked out after three innings in three consecutive games, adding to coach Lee Kang-cheol’s concerns amidst an already tight schedule. 

Min Kim started the 14th game of the season against Hanwha in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 18th and suffered his second loss of the season due to 3 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 4 runs (2 earned runs) in 3 innings. I lost (draw) for the first time. 

As always, the start was clean. In the first inning, against Hanwha’s top batting lineup of Lee Jin-young, Moon Hyun-bin, and Noh Si-hwan, he pitched an 11-pitch strikeout, including one strikeout. In addition, Bae Jeong-dae hit a timely hit with 1 RBI in the 2nd inning, earning 1 point of support. 

However, there was no help from the fielders on defense in the second inning. Kim Min induced leadoff leaders Nick Williams and Kim Tae-yeon to hit ground balls in succession, but second baseman Ho-yeon Lee and third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang made catching errors in succession, putting themselves in danger of reaching second and third base with no outs. With the bases loaded and no outs due to Kim In-hwan’s walk, Kim Min hit back-to-back 1-RBI infield ground balls to Choi Jae-hoon and Choi In-ho, contributing to a 1-2 comeback. 

In the 3rd inning, my concentration was disappointing after 2 outs. While Noh Si-hwan got on base with a left-handed hit on the first pitch, Williams was allowed a left-handed two-run gun. The 144km fastball thrown at a ball count of 1B-1S went over the fence. Third home run of the season.

Kim Min continued to be in danger after hitting a double against Kim Tae-yeon, but he struck out Kim In-hwan on three pitches and prevented additional runs. 

Kim Min, whose pitch count reached 77, was replaced by Ju Kwon in the 4th inning when he was down 1-4, and once again experienced the bitter taste of early defeat. 

Kim Min, who was selected in the first round in 2018, wandered in the bullpen this year, his 6th year as a professional, and joined the starting rotation from the beginning of this month following Eom Sang-baek’s absence due to injury.

However, in the first game after joining the starting lineup, against Gocheok KT on the 3rd, he suffered a loss due to poor performance, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 6 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings. Then, in the match against Suwon SSG on the 9th, he gave up 5 runs in 3 innings, 5 hits, 3 walks, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. Grated. 

Even on this day, which was his third starting pitch, there were no twists. He was unable to fill the void left by Eom Sang-baek, leaving the mound in three innings in three consecutive games. His average ERA during this period reached 12.00 (12 earned runs in 9 innings). 

Second-place KT ultimately lost 2-6 to Hanwha, widening its lead over leader LG to 6.5 games and falling behind third-place NC by one game. This was the result of the expected first round pick pitching below expectations.