“I turned my fastball no matter what.”
KT Wiz’s Kim Min-hyuk hit his first walk-off home run against the Doosan Bears in Suwon on Wednesday. The opposing pitcher was Kim Taek-yeon (19), the hottest rookie in the KBO league this year. With the ball count tied 4-4, Kim hit a 148 kilometer-per-hour fastball on his fifth pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning when his team had an advantage of 3-1. At the moment he hit the ball, the ball stretched so far that he could feel the home run, and Kim was greeted with joy by his teammates as he marked his first walk-off home run of this season.
At the second game of the series against the KT Wiz on Thursday, Kim showed impressive pitching, drawing attention. Taking the mound as a closing pitcher at the bottom of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead, Kim garnered his 15th save of the season by allowing 22 hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in one inning, and spearheaded his team’s third consecutive victory. With one out, Hwang Jae-gyun and Kim Sang-soo were on the verge of loading the bases with consecutive hits and walks by Bae Jeong-dae, but ended the game by striking out Shin Bon-ki and Park Min-seok in succession. With the bases loaded, Kim had to throw eight fastballs, his biggest weapon, without breaking balls, and the result was another strikeout.
With starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong leaving the mound early by allowing three runs in one ⅔ inning on Wednesday, Doosan was holding out well thanks to the bullpen. Jeong Cheol-won (1 ⅓ inning), Choi Ji-gang (1 ⅓ inning) and Hong Gun-hee (1 ⅔ inning), Lee Byung-hun (1 inning) and Kim Kang-ryul (⅓ inning) threw consecutive pitches, holding out until the eighth inning with one out. As the team was in a crisis with one out and runners on the first and third bases, Doosan had no choice but to pull out its closer Kim Taek-yeon card early. Kim Taek-yeon met the bench’s expectations by striking out pinch hitter Kang Baek-ho with a swing and miss and even Kim Sang-soo with a fly ball to the right field.
However, with Doosan failing to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning, it was too much for Kim Taek-yeon to take responsibility for the bottom of the ninth inning. Although the fastball was still powerful, the speed was about 1 to 2 kilometers away from the previous game. Still, Shim Woo-joon, the leadoff batter, continued his move by striking out swinging, but suffered from being pushed back by the next batter, Kim Min-hyuk, in the ball count fight. Still, the ball that allowed a finishing home run went well into the body, but Kim Min-hyuk had to say that he hit it well.
Kim Min-hyuk said, “I put it on the fastball no matter what. Because Kim Taek-yeon has such a good fastball. And the ball count was in my favor, and I tried to hit it quickly. To be honest, however, I wanted to hit a home run. The team’s atmosphere was not good, and I wanted to hit a home run and finish it, but I didn’t know it would come out. I was only looking between the center and the body. I think I was lucky because I had to look at you to hit a long ball. I was surprised, too.”
“Anyway, pitchers throw the most balls that they are confident in. That’s why I’m aiming now. I wasn’t in a situation where I was going to throw breaking balls to myself,” he said, explaining that he only targeted fastballs.
Kim suffered a painful defeat, but no one could blame him. Kim has won three games, 15 saves, four holds, 54 ⅔ innings and 1.98 ERA in 51 games this year. Among bullpen pitchers who have thrown more than 30 innings in the league, Kim is the only one who has maintained the one-point ERA so far at the end of the season. If he adds two more saves, he will surpass Na Seung-hyun (16 saves) of the Lotte Giants in 2006 as the title of most saves in the history of high school graduates. If Kim blocks it, Doosan will win, and if Kim collapses, Doosan will collapse. At the young age of 19, Kim is taking the mound with such heavy responsibility. 메이저놀이터
Although he allowed a walk-off home run, Kim will return to the mound as usual. A well-controlled fastball does not mean that he will avoid a head-to-head game from now on.
“My strength is my fastball. No matter who comes out, I will win with my fastball, and if I get hit, just think that I’m not good enough,” Kim said. “I try to think that the batter did a good job rather than thinking that my fastball was bad just because my fastball was hit.”
Doosan will need Kim more often in the remaining 25 games. As of Tuesday, Doosan is ranked fourth with 61 wins, 56 losses and two draws in the season. It is capable of competing for the second place spot with 1.5 games behind the third-place LG Twins and three games behind the second-place Samsung Lions.
It is no exaggeration to say that whether or not Kim Taek-yeon locks the back door determines Doosan’s ranking this season. Kim’s fastball is properly caught by Kim Min-hyuk’s bat this time, but as always, Kim will clean up his fastball again and take the mound. A 19-year-old rookie is not in charge of the closing pitcher for no reason.