“My head is a bit jumbled up.”
Kim Seo-hyun of Hanwha Eagles made his professional debut last year with high expectations. When he was at Seoul High School, he was the top player in the rookie draft by throwing 155 kilometers per hour.
However, his performance in the first season of his debut was not good enough. He pitched in 20 games in the first division last year, but only garnered one save and an ERA of 7.25. At his debut in the first division on April 19, he pitched a maximum speed of 157.9 km/h (160.1 km/h based on PTS) and a maximum speed of 158.4 km/h (160.7 km/h based on PTS) at the match against the Samsung Lions in Daejeon on May 11. However, he had difficulties controlling his ball control. After the cancellation of the second division, he turned to starting pitcher and tried to adjust his balance, but it did not work.
Kim Seo-hyun was a promising player who dominated the high school league. He lost his pitching balance due to psychological issues, not technical ones. “When I first joined the secondary league, I had a lot of thoughts,” Kim told this reporter after finishing an individual training session in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul on Tuesday. “I thought, ‘Why not all of a sudden?’ and ‘Is it because I’m physically tired?’ I was confused.”
The Hanwha team wanted to help Kim Seo-hyun step by step. Coach Choi Won-ho and coach Park Seung-min met constantly and considered various measures, but it didn’t work. From Kim Seo-hyun’s point of view, one season was over after solving his homework.
“I didn’t have time to organize my thoughts even after I joined the secondary league. I prepared to start right away. After the season was over, I worked hard to solve my homework while training with coach Park Seung-min at the closing camp. I finally cleared up my complicated thoughts after finishing that,” Kim said.
Now he has a clean mind. “I want to throw with ease now. I had a lot of anxiety when I moved to the second division for the first time last year. Now I will not be conscious of such things and play with peace of mind.”
He seems to have solved all of his homework, too. “I needed to adjust to the situation in the process of increasing the proportion of fastballs. Coach Choi Won-ho said, “You have good fastballs. If you have a high percentage of breaking balls, you could get injured, so let’s increase the number of fastballs,” adding, “When I was in Seoul High School, I threw a lot of breaking balls, and when I was able to get a fastball, I used to play with a fastball. I still had that habit. I think I haven’t adjusted to changes because it’s my first year as a pro.”
He will start in the bullpen again this year. Kim Seo-hyun also prefers this position. “The manager said he would use me as a bullpen this season,” he said. “It’s the position I wanted, but I felt it wasn’t easy. It would be nice to play full time (in the first division), but I know it might not work. I want to stay in the first division a little longer than last year.”
Even if he showed poor performance in his first year, the fact remains unchanged. Still, he is a talented player who is dreaming of making inroads into foreign markets. Recently, he had the opportunity to train with Choi Hyun-il and Jang Hyun-suk (LA Dodgers) and Lee Chan-sol (Boston Red Sox). When asked if he was motivated to make inroads into foreign markets, he said, “Adapting to the first division comes first,” but added, “If I can, I would like to go to Japan before the U.S.” 월카지노
The reason was simple. It looks fun. “Doesn’t each country have different styles? In Japan, pitchers have a lot of bunt work (defense). I like to defend in the original form. That’s why I’m even more attracted to it. If I challenge the U.S., I might be second to none.”