‘Mourning clothes even before debut’ Doosan rookie Kim Taek-yeon “Pitch clock and robot referee? “There is no significant impact.”

Kim Taek-yeon of Incheon High School is giving his thoughts after receiving the Ama Special Award in the player category at the 2023 Korean Professional Baseball Retired Players' Day Awards Ceremony held at Hotel Riviera in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 7th.

Taekyeon Kim (18, Doosan Bears) is one of the top 10 rookie players who is having the busiest off-season this winter. Even though he has not yet made his professional debut, he is going to various award ceremonies and collecting trophies.

Kim Taek-yeon, who made a name for himself as a special pitcher in high school baseball, left an outstanding record of 7 wins and 1 loss and an ERA of 1.13 in 13 games at this year's national high school tournament.

Last September, at the World Baseball Softball Federation U-18 Baseball World Cup, where he played under the Taegeuk logo, he appeared in 6 games and played 16 innings, pitching well with 2 wins, 1 save, and an ERA of 0.88, helping Korea win the bronze medal. . In particular, the fighting spirit of ‘5 consecutive fights’ attracted attention.

Kim Taek-yeon, who was mentioned as a candidate for the first overall pick in the 2024 KBO rookie draft along with Jangchung High School pitcher Hwang Jun-seo (designated by the Hanwha Eagles), was selected by Doosan, which had the second-pick, when Hanwha, which had the first-pick, called Hwang Jun-seo.

Kim Taek-yeon, who has been confirmed to join the professional ranks, is having happy days recently. Starting with his high school's Choi Dong-won Award, he has been named as a recipient of the Sports Seoul Award of the Year (Amateur of the Year Award), Korea Eunha Association (Ama Special Award), and Baseball/Softball Inn's Night (Outstanding Player Award).

Kim Taek-yeon, whom we met at the awards ceremony on the 7th, said, “It is meaningful to receive the award even before his professional debut. “As he watched his seniors (receiving awards), he thought that he wanted to come to the awards ceremony even after he became a professional athlete,” he said.

Taekyeon Kim participated in the Doosan finishing camp held in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do last month. However, Doosan did not force Kim Taek-yeon, who threw a lot of balls this year. For management purposes, he only did light training, such as catch ball, without pitching.

Kim Taek-yeon said, “It is true that I threw too much. Coach Lee Seung-yeop also told him not to overexert himself during the finishing camp. He focused on maintaining his senses in preparation for next season. “It’s enough to show pitching at next year’s spring camp,” he explained.

Kim Taek-yeon is focusing on developing new pitches in the off-season. He said, “I throw a fastball, slider, and curveball, but I’m also practicing my splitter and changeup. “As he works with hitters, he tries to throw the ball more effectively.”

Taek-yeon Kim also talked about the pitch clock and robot referees that will be introduced in the league starting next season. Since we have already experienced robot umpires on the high school baseball stage, it is expected that there will not be much difficulty in adapting.

Kim Taek-yeon said, “I experienced it with half concern and half anticipation, but I don’t think it will have as much of an effect on the pitch as I thought.” He added, “The pitch clock has about 7 to 8 seconds left after the ball is thrown, and the robot referee makes unavoidable decisions such as opposing pitches. I definitely felt that it was good because there were times when pitches that were difficult to hit were judged as strikes. “Having a clear zone had the effect of allowing me to focus more and throw,” he explained.

Although he has not yet stepped foot on the professional stage, Kim Taek-yeon is receiving great expectations from the club and fans. He himself is eager to make his debut as soon as possible.

Taekyeon Kim said, “There are many people who support him even before his debut, so I am also looking forward to his debut season. I am working out while waiting for my debut day, and I have a strong desire to debut as soon as possible. “I am preparing hard to show a good performance,” he said. sportstotomen.com