KIA Tigers left-handed fireballer Kim Ki-hoon (23) predicted a harsh winter.

On the 27th, KIA revealed the five players it will dispatch to the Canberra Cavaliers of the Australian Professional Baseball League (ABL). Including Kim Ki-hoon, pitchers Kwak Do-gyu, Kim Hyun-soo, Hong Won-bin, and infielder Park Min were named. Excluding Kim Hyun-soo, who joined as a compensation player for Ahn Chi-hong, who transferred to the Lotte Giants as a free agent in 2020, the four players are prospects selected by KIA in the top round with high evaluation of their potential.

KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak said, “We decided on this dispatch to provide real-life opportunities to players who need real-world experience due to military service and players who lack first-team stage experience,” adding, “Our players will be able to improve their skills against high-level foreign players.” “I look forward to leading it,” he said.

It was an opportunity that KIA created with great difficulty for promising players. As the dispatch of Geelong Korea to the ABL fell through this year, KIA looked for alternatives, and last September, Director Shim met with Canberra’s owner in person and secured a position to send five prospects.

Kim Ki-hoon was also named on the list for the finishing camp in Okinawa, Japan, announced by KIA on the 26th. Among the five players confirmed to go to Australia, he is the only one who will go to the Okinawa camp. The Okinawa finishing camp will be held from November 1 to 28, and the five KIA players participating in the ABL will return after playing a total of 40 games, starting with the opening game on November 17 until January 21 of next year. Kim Ki-hoon spent three full months from November to January without rest.

Kim Ki-hoon plans to first prepare himself in Okinawa and then move directly from Okinawa to Australia according to the ABL schedule. Although the date of his departure to Australia has not been confirmed, he appears determined to properly prepare for the 2024 season by training for at least 10 more days in Okinawa. The remaining four, including Kwak Do-gyu, Hong Won-bin, Kim Hyun-soo, and Park Min, will train in Gwangju and then move to Australia together.

Kim Ki-hoon is a left-handed fireballer who graduated from Gwangju Dongseong High School and joined KIA as a first-round pick in 2019. He raised expectations as a ‘post-Yang Hyun-jong’ by throwing a fastball exceeding 150 km per hour. However, he has not yet seen the light of day on the first team stage. Until this year, he had appeared in 75 games for the first team, recording only 5 wins, 10 losses, 171⅓ innings, and an ERA of 5.10. The number of strikeouts is 123, which is less than the 140 walks. This means that Jegu suffered from a chronic disease.

In the end, he spent time at Sangmu resolving military issues to cool his head. Kim Ki-hoon focused on controlling the pitch by completely revising his pitching form at Sangmu. During his time as managing director, his Futures League records in 2021 were only 13 games, 4 wins, 2 losses, 52 innings, and an ERA of 4.15, but in the 2022 Futures League, he grew rapidly to record 16 games, 6 wins, 2 losses, 85⅓ innings, and an ERA of 2.95. did. There was a notable change, as he struck out 94 batters while only giving up 31 walks. As soon as he was discharged from the military in 2022, he predicted a complete transformation by recording 8⅔ innings and an ERA of 1.04 in 5 first-team games. He was still refining his pitch control by throwing a 150km fastball, so his expectations were worthy of being raised.

At the time of his discharge from the military, Kim Ki-hoon said, “As I changed my pitching form, my release point became more consistent and my balance became more established. In the past, I was stressed because I wanted to throw a strike but didn’t go in. I’m not sophisticated yet,” and said that there was still room for improvement, but he was confident to some extent. It seemed like I got it.

However, he was pushed aside by the momentum of his juniors. As Lee Ui-ri and Yoon Young-cheol took their places in this year’s starting rotation, Kim Ki-hoon was pushed to the bullpen. In the bullpen, Kim Ki-hoon’s chronic problem of ball control began again, and he only managed 2 wins, 31⅔ innings, and an earned run average of 4.60 in 29 games. Kim Ki-hoon couldn’t help but feel disappointed because he came back after resolving his military problem, but his grades weren’t as good as he had hoped.

I wonder what changes will come with the three-month forced march this winter. This shows how important both Kim Ki-hoon and the club consider the 2024 season카지노사이트. Kim Ki-hoon may have a hard time physically as he has played all season and is preparing for the winter, but he has decided to challenge his limits. Can Kim Ki-hoon return to the next level with other prospects on the ABL stage and enrich the KIA mound in the 2024 season?