The home turf of the Samsung Lions, once called the "catcher kingdom," is in crisis. Kang Min-ho (39) has set a new KBO league record with 2,249 games played, but Kim Jae-seong (28), who showed poor batting performance in the early days of this season (0.191 batting average) and seemed to be in full bloom in 2022, is hardly able to display his strength as he posted a batting average of .200. Lee Byung-hun (25), the future player in the Samsung home turf, is also receiving a chance, but remains at the batting average of .143 with one hit or more. Although the team has three catchers, it is true that his offense power is not as heavy as it should be.
Against this backdrop, there is a player who is showing his presence by quietly raising the batting sense in the Futures League (second division). It is Kim Do-hwan (24), who joined the team in 2019 with Lee Byung-hun. Kim appeared in seven Futures League games, recording nine hits in 21 at-bats for a 0.429 RBI. In a game against the SSG Landers second division held at Ganghwa SSG Futures Field on Tuesday, he had no hit, but took four bases with three walks and one walk. He led his team to victory through snow baseball.
Kim Do-hwan, who joined the team in 2019, grew quickly as a backup catcher for Samsung while his younger brother, Lee Byung-hun, joined the military first. Since his debut, he has played in 61 games and hit two home runs, and in 2020, he played in 34 games and posted a batting average of 0.220. However, his stature has declined significantly since before and after he joined the military. Kim Jae-seong joined the team as a compensator for free agent, and Lee Byung-hun, the same age who was discharged first, saw rapid growth. Although he was discharged from the military after waking up to hitting in Sangmu, he had a disappointing year last year when he only posted a batting average of 0.143 in nine games in the first division.
Last winter, Kim tried his best. "Cold reality. I didn't do it well," Kim said, referring to last year. "I started exercising in early December and worked hard," he said about his sweat from last winter. Kim then went to Okinawa, Japan early before the spring camp in February and sweated a lot. "I was able to concentrate on training comfortably thanks to Kang Min-ho's support for me," Kim said, "I have gradually improved by learning know-how and advice from veteran seniors one-on-one.
Kim Do-hwan, who said he lost 10 kilograms in the military, said, "I gained 5 kilograms again thanks to Minho's advice. It is to strengthen my strength. I tried to imitate Minho from the sidelines how he prepared for the off-season, and he taught me a lot in terms of technology." "He pointed out the timing and points in the batting, and it really helped me a lot," Kim said. "I think the fact that I have a good batting performance in Futures is the result of the combination of what I learned from Minho back then and the advice from the coaches. I really appreciate Minho."
He proved his growth and potential by playing for Futures. Now it is time to jump into the competition again. The biggest competitor is Lee Byung-hun, a fellow player of the same age as Lee. The rivalry between the two players has been raised steadily since they joined the team. "I have known him since he was an amateur, and he has been in the secondary league for a long time," Kim said smiling. "If we do better than competing, we applaud each other, give him compliments and give him advice." Lee also said of Kim, "He has a lot to learn. I hope we grow up well together." 안전놀이터
Close but far away. Kim vowed to prove himself in the first division after continuing his consistent performance in the second division. "I don't know when the opportunity will come, but until then, the priority is to prepare well in the second division. From now on, I really think it's time to do well. I will do my best to do my best to do well no matter what."
