Kim Kwang-hyun is unusual ahead of his third FA jackpot opportunity in a row with 557 runs lost

Apr 28, 2025

Kim Kwang-hyun is unusual ahead of his third FA jackpot opportunity in a row with 557 runs lost
KBO League SSG and Hanwha match held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 16th. Hanwha's Noh Si-hwan, who made a come-from-behind two-run shot against SSG Kim Kwang-hyun in the fourth inning. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.04.16/



Kim Kwang-hyun's unusual decline.

It is said that there is no business ahead of time. No matter how outstanding an athlete is, when he or she is in his or her mid-30s, his or her physical ability will decline and he will inevitably suffer a decline. This is especially true of ball games.

After joining the SSG Landers in 2007, Kim Kwang-hyun, the eternal ace of the SSG Landers, became the best left-hander pitcher in the KBO league beyond the SK Wyverns and SSG. It captured the hearts of many fans with its fastball of more than 150 kilometers from its tall height. The relentless pitching, such as "If you want to hit me," made the fans cool. Handsome looks are a bonus.




However, Kim Kwang-hyun is already 37 years old this year. be on the verge of a blunder. In fact, there were signs that time could not be countered. He started going downhill after going 13-3 with a 2.13 ERA in the 2022 season. The 2023 season maintained a 3.53 ERA, but failed to complete 9 wins, 8 losses, and 10 wins. He went 12-10 last season, but his ERA soared to 4.93. the highest career ERA. In particular, he played as a hidden card to protect his victory at the end of the game in the fifth-place tiebreaker against KT Wiz, but the scene where he was hit by a come-from-behind home run by Rojas was caught in many people's minds.

The record is also a record, but the powerful ball that hits and presses the opponent disappeared. Should I say that hitters are not afraid of Kim Kwang-hyun. Experts said Kim Kwang-hyun also said that it is no longer the time for an unconditional head-to-head match. Like Yang Hyun-jong (KIA), who changed his line early, he needs to increase his breaking ball hitting rate and pitch to catch the ball.

Kim Kwang-hyun is unusual ahead of his third FA jackpot opportunity in a row with 557 runs lost
KBO League SSG and Hanwha match held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 16th. SSG Kim Kwang-hyun, who is pitching as a starter. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.04.16/
Still, Kim Kwang-hyun was Kim Kwang-hyun. A crucial season ahead of the third FA challenge. The four games after the opening were not bad. He won two runs in five ⅔ against the Doosan Bears and lost against the Kiwoom Heroes, but pitched well with two runs in five innings. The KT Wiz match and the Samsung Lions also pitched well with one run in five innings and eight strikeouts in six innings. I was just sad that there was no victory.




However, signs have been unusual since the defeat against the Hanwha Eagles on the 16th. He gave up five runs in five innings. In the game against KT, he gave up 10 hits during five ⅔ innings and collapsed by allowing five runs (four earned runs). And on the 28th, he allowed seven runs, the most in a season against Kiwoom, and was forced to leave early in three ⅓ innings. It was a fatal hit to allow Oh Sun-jin to load the bases, but he seemed to be in poor condition, receiving consecutive hits from the start of the game.

Kim Kwang-hyun is unusual ahead of his third FA jackpot opportunity in a row with 557 runs lost
KBO League SSG and Hanwha match held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 16th. SSG Kim Kwang-hyun, who is pitching as a starter. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.04.16/
In the match against Kiwoom, the maximum fastball speed was 146km, but most of them were formed in the early 140km range. The proportion of breaking balls was high, whether confidence in the fastball fell. I mixed 30 sliders, 17 changeups, and 15 curves while throwing 22 fastballs. Control is life to pitch around these breaking balls, but the game was forced to be solved difficult because the control did not go as desired.

Of course, it was a daytime game, but the weather was a little chilly, and there would have been the aftermath of Tuesday-Sunday consecutive appearances. In the case of Oh Sun-jin's grand slam, the batter hit the ball well that came in with a ball that was difficult to hit on the body. However, there is an atmosphere that cannot simply pass the record of losing three consecutive games of mass loss. It is clear that Kim Kwang-hyun is not the one we knew.




Kim Kwang-hyun has won his first FA qualification and signed a non-FA multi-year contract of 8.5 billion won in total and 15.1 billion won, which is virtually the same as the FA, and is in his fourth season. He even took on the captaincy with enthusiasm. Will Kim Kwang-hyun be able to write an unexpected drama.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.