“Having a quick game turned out to be a good result”.
KIA Tigers right-hander Kim Do-hyeon (23) has developed into a starting pitcher again. At a game against the KT Wiz in the 2024 professional baseball league held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Fields on Sunday, Kim pitched five innings and gave up six hits, two walks, and one out, but allowed no single strikeout. He led the team to 2-0 win, securing his third win (two wins as starting pitchers) of this season. 메이저사이트
He did not fail in a critical crisis. As a result, he had a great experience as a starting pitcher. In the top of the first inning, Rojas, the leadoff hitter, had a hit to the left-center, but suppressed three batters. In the third inning, he gave up two hits and a walk, and was on the verge of loading the bases with one out, but induced the third and fourth hitters to make a mistake to prevent a run.
In particular, he called for a bases-loaded crisis with two outs in the fourth inning with two hits and a walk. He handled opposing hitter Mel Rojas Jr. with a fly ball to left field. On May 31, Rojas hit a grand slam in Gwangju game, but this time he succeeded in avenging himself. In the fourth inning, he gave up a walk and a hit after two outs, but he struck out Kim Min-hyuk with a swing and miss and clenched his fist.
He threw 31 fastballs with a maximum of 152 km and an average of 148 km, respectively, and mixed change-up two-seam and curveball. Of the 89 pitches, he had 54 strikes. He did not shy away and displayed aggressive pitching throughout the game. He was not the type of player who gave up a lot of runs by substituting him with the second and third innings, respectively, in the previous two games. Chitemyeon Chira defended the KT battering line by banking on his gut-throwing.
It was a game where he realized that a starting pitcher should not run away and boldly target the strike zone. Manager Lee Bum-ho also praised the pitcher. “He pitched five scoreless innings despite tough times, including two bases loaded, to become a starting pitcher. I hope he trusts his ball and continues to pitch confidently through this game,” Lee said.
Notably, it was Kim’s first start victory in front of his home fans after moving to the team. “I was sorry for showing such poor performances in the previous two games. I feel so good to win in front of my home fans. My parents were sad due to lackluster performance in the two games, but I’m really glad that I showed such good performance at a game when I came to the baseball stadium,” Kim said with a smile.
“People around me said a lot that I couldn’t throw many strikes, which resulted in such a result. Rather, thinking that I would get a home run and a hit today, I threw a lot of strikes and quickly competed with batters, resulting in a good result. I used to get a grand slam by Rojas, but today, I really wanted to win. I’m so happy to win like this,” he said.
Kim’s speed has increased dramatically compared to before joining the military. He flew from the early 140km range to the late 140km range. He also reached the maximum speed limit of 152km. “I did weight training and running a lot in the military. I saw a lot of videos of him throwing things on YouTube and Instagram. During my vacation, I was able to gain speed while training at a training center. The average time for joining the military was 147km and 141~142km,” Kim said.
Lastly, he said, “I found it very helpful to be able to fight against batters today. If you give a walk, fielders will have a hard time. I think we need to quickly catch strikes and compete.” He declared his goal to become a fighting chicken on the mound. Kia seems to have gained a starting pitcher who is 23 years younger than Kia and has a long way to go.