Legend's "Have a good trip to Major League" Encouragement... Kim Hye-sung's Growing Up, How Did MLB See It
Legend's "Have a good trip to Major League" Encouragement... Kim Hye-sung's Growing Up, How Did MLB See It
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In the game between Kiwoom and SSG held at Gocheok Sky Dome during the 2024 season, a scene from above the second base drew attention. Choo, who announced his retirement after the 2024 season, had a talk with Kim Hye-sung for quite some time at the time of replacement of the pitcher after he went to second base. Choo was talking about something, and Kim Hye-sung was listening to the story.토토사이트
When asked what he was talking about, Choo smiled and said, "It wasn't a special story, and I told him to have a safe trip to the Major League." Choo, who has been selected as the best fielder of Korean baseball during his 16-year career in the Major League, encouraged his junior who faces a long challenge. Kim Hye-sung declared his bid for the Major League through the posting system (closed competitive bidding) before the start of the 2024 season, and is actually going through the process of posting in the Major League. The conclusion is expected in early January at the latest.
After graduating from Dongsan High School and receiving the nomination from the Heroes in 2017, Kim has grown into a leading infielder for the KBO League and a national team infielder through growth. He gained ample experience between shortstop and second baseman. He posted a batting average of 0.304, 37 homers, 386 RBIs, 591 runs and 211 steals in 953 games in the KBO League. He was considered the best in the league when it comes to his flagship performance.
In fact, he did not receive much attention from the Major League from the start like Lee Jung-hoo, who entered the Major League a year earlier. However, this does not mean that Kim's observation period was short. "Considering the observation period alone, it will not be shorter than that of Kim Ha-sung," a source from revenge said. Kiwoom has produced many MLB students starting with Kang Byung-ho and Kim Ha-sung and Lee Jung-hoo, and Kim Hye-sung also naturally caught the eye of many teams while watching them. When such a story first came up, it had drawn attention for quite a long time, with some people asking why they are interested in Kim Hye-sung.
Kim is now facing calls from Major League teams and individual choices. No one has doubts about Kim's qualification for the Major League. Attention is focusing on how much favorable conditions Kim will be able to afford. This is directly related to how Kim evaluates her growth process and ultimately how she will eliminate her weaknesses that have been pointed out so far. Although her 2024 performance was nothing more unusual than usual, chances are high that the Major League scouts paid more attention to supplementing their weaknesses than their apparent performance.
Although different teams have different assessments, MLB scouts reportedly highly value Kim's athletic ability. It is a recent trend in the Major League. Some Major League scouts say Kim's defense on second base is not bad and is above average in the Gocheok Stadium, which uses artificial turf. Some scouts say that Kim has athletic ability to play as both shortstop and center fielder in urgent situations.
In sum, it is difficult to make a big hit like Lee Jung-hoo, who signed a six-year contract with San Francisco for a total of $113 million, but it is predicted that teams that need internal and external utility players and pinch-runner agents on the 26-man roster may have their eyes on Kim Hye-sung. Basically, he is not a player who has a big price burden, so the accessibility of small market teams may be better than Lee Jung-hoo.
On the contrary, it is clear that there is a lack of power at the Major League level, and some point out that this is likely to deal a fatal blow to offensive productivity in the Major League. In addition, there was an opinion that in the KBO League, he is a contact heater that can hit more than 300%, but for that type of player, the swing rate is higher than expected. Kim Hye-sung's strikeout rate has continued to decline, but he still recorded an average strikeout rate of 13.6% for two years in 2022 and 2023. It is likely not a problem in Korea, but in the Major League, where opposing pitchers have better pitches, it is likely to lead to a decrease in contact rates.
Will Kim give her answer in 2024 to the two issues that scouts point out in a broad sense? First of all, there is a positive point. Some might say what you think of the KBO League's strong performance this year, but basically, the number of homers is continuing to increase. In 2024, Kim had his first double-digit home run (11), even though he played in 127 games. In addition, the strikeout rate dropped to 17 percent in 2020, 15.3 percent in 2021, 14.7 percent in 2022, 12.4 percent in 2023, and 10.9 percent this year. He succeeded in hitting the lowest point since his debut not only in terms of pitch ratio but also in swing ratio. He has found clues in both areas. Attention is focusing on how Major League teams will evaluate this process.