Rookie catcher Kim Dong-heon (19) of the professional baseball Kiwoom Heroes is attracting attention as one of the young catchers who will lead the future of Korean baseball.
Among catchers under the age of 25, he appeared in eight games, the most in the league this season, and the most with three starts.
Kim Dong-heon, who we met at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 16th, said, “First of all, my goal now is to stay in the first team for a long time. I want to play a role that helps the team every moment. I did it,” he said of what he felt.
Kim Dong-heon is a promising catcher nominated by Kiwoom as the 12th overall pick in the second round last year.
He started with the Arizona spring camp, went through an exhibition game, and was named in the regular season opening roster, and has been active in the first team so far.
He doesn’t just come to the game for the experience, he leaves a strong impression every time he plays.
In his at-bat, he showed a calm appearance with a batting average of 0.364 (4 hits in 11 at-bats) with 1 RBI and 2 walks, and while wearing a catcher’s mask, he showed off his strong shoulder with 2 stolen bases (3 allowed).
Kim Dong-heon said, “The team atmosphere where I can play my baseball is so good. (Kiwoom) has the advantage of being able to play my baseball without paying attention.
The position that takes the longest time to create a player worthy of playing in the first team is catcher.
Starting with the pitcher’s lead, things like reading the flow of the game require experience.
The Kiwoom club immediately decided that the 1st team was better than the 2nd team for Kim Dong-heon’s growth.
There is a lot to learn just by watching the seniors play.
As expected by the club, Kim Dong-heon is following the every move of his team seniors with his eyes and ears, as if he is keeping runners in check.
In particular, Ji-Young Lee (37), a senior catcher, is a player who opened Kim Dong-Hun’s eyes.
Kim Dong-heon said, “I’m too big a senior to ask technically, so there’s nothing to graft on to me yet, so I’m only watching the seniors play and prepare routines, but there’s a lot to learn from that alone.”
Lee Ji-young is the first to come to the stadium and warms up in a sweat suit even in midsummer.
“Lee Ji-young’s routine of warming up without a trainer, running separately after exercise, and sauna before the game is trivial, but I feel that it leads to physical strength in the long run,” said Kim Dong-heon, who said토스카지노, “I respect that routine wearing a sweat suit. ” said
When asked if he would like to train in a sweat suit as well, he laughed, saying, “I naturally sweat a lot even if I don’t wear a sweat suit.”
Kim Dong-heon communicates with the pitcher instead of getting a signature on the ball combination on the bench and signs it himself.
He explained, “(Park Do-hyun) battery coach also prefers that the pitcher and I work together. (Kim Chang-hyun) I learned a lot about the ball combination and what the catcher should think about before the game from the head coach.”
The game catcher Kim Dong-heon had a new eye on ball combinations was an exhibition game against the LG Twins held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 26th of last month.
Kim Dong-heon, who worked with Ace Woo-jin Ahn as a starter at the time, signed mostly fastballs at the beginning of the game and gave up 1 point in the second inning.
This is the moment when he realized that no matter how fast a pitcher is, he cannot catch a batter with just a fastball.
Kim Dong-heon said, “I definitely learned that if you focus on fastballs against professional hitters, you will hit right. So, from the 3rd inning, I learned a lot by mixing breaking balls.”
Kim Dong-hun played as a starting battery with Eric Yokishi in the Gocheok KIA match on the 14th and Ariel Furado in the Gocheok KIA match on the 15th.
Yokishi gave up 2 runs in 7 innings, and Hurado won their first win of the season with 1 run in 6 innings, respectively, and Kim Dong-heon showed good teamwork with foreign pitchers.
Kim Dong-heon said, “Yokishi thought the catcher’s sitting position was important, so he prepared by watching the video for several hours, and Hurado tried to talk more than an interpreter from the demonstration game.”