155km? It's not over yet. Lotte has the No. 1 Korean left-hander's restraint ranking...More naturally, advice is a godsend.
Jun 24, 2025
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Up to 155km. The fastest pitcher among native pitchers this year came from Busan. This is Hong Min-ki (24) of Lotte Giants, who is in his sixth year as a professional player.
Hong Min-ki, from Daejeon High School, wore a Lotte uniform in the second round of the 2020 rookie draft (4th overall). However, the only experience he had in the first team for four years until 2023 was one game and one inning. There is a fast left-hander in the second teamThere has been a steady talk of ', but it has not been shown properly in practice.
However, the atmosphere has changed since Kim Tae-hyung took office. He has repeatedly said that `for a pitcher, a fastball is the best talent.' A pitcher with a fast ball has expressed several times that he wants to make use of it, whether it's a starter or a bullpen.
One of them, Hong Min-ki, is now stretching. Hong Min-ki played in three games, including one start, and pitched three ⅔ innings last year. Regardless of the results, his experience on the first-team mound has been accumulated.
This year, he also received a two-game opportunity in May, and the match against Hanwha Eagles on June 18 became the best day of Hong Min-ki's life. Hong Min-ki, who started, pitched hard with four hits and one run in four innings. It was admired by commentator Lee Soon-cheol by spraying up to 155km of fastballs.
Hong Min-ki's value was also promoted again in the match against the Samsung Lions on the 22nd. Lotte's starter Park Se-woong (six runs in three innings) was shaken early in the game and trailed 1-6, but Hong Min-ki set up a turning point by blocking three innings without losing a point in the fourth to sixth innings. And in the bottom of the seventh inning, he scored a large number of six points, succeeded in turning it over, and ran for four consecutive wins. Coach Kim Tae-hyung defended Hong Min-ki well with three scoreless innings at a time when he was being dragged out"I was the first to mention it.
It's the time when we're getting the most attention since our professional debut. Hong Min-ki, who met at Sajik Stadium in Busan, replied with a smile on his face to congratulate him. Expectations and celebrations are pouring in regardless of phone text messages and SNS.
"Before, it was consistently up to 152km. As he gained confidence recently, he shot 155km in the second team, and he seems to have thrown 155km again because he was excited in the first team and had more power than usual. It's a position to show the coach, so rather than controlling the starting lineup, I just threw 100% from the first inning."
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"Now I'm convinced that I won't freeze even if I take the mound in the first team game. I think that confidence is the greatest. You can throw my ball with the mind that it's the same as the second team or the first team."
Lotte once had a time when it was called the "left-hand famine". Except for Barnes, a foreign starter who has left now, there was a time when there was only one left-hander Kim Jin-wook in the first team.
This year is different. Kim Jin-wook, Jung Hyun-soo, and Song Jae-young have now joined Hong Min-ki. Barnes, foreign starters such as Davison and Gamboa this year are becoming their own goals and mentors for young left-handers.
Hong Min-ki said "I was going to tell Barnes how to throw a slider, but I can't come up to the first team very often…," he said, swallowing his regret. Then "Davidson is a really active personality. He takes good care of young players, too. Gamboa was surprised to see her plug 156km in the seventh inning. What kind of exercise do you do? I want to get closer and learn a lot," he stressed.
Currently, it is close to two pitches of fastball-slider, but there are also curves and changeups that have been honed while dreaming of a first-team stage. However, he still lacks confidence.
Initially, Hong Min-ki was considered a bullpen during his first first first-team call-up in June. However, Park Se-woong unexpectedly went down to the second division and got a chance to start as the rotation got twisted.
He "I heard about the selection a day ago, and I was nervous and looking forward to it. 'The time has come to show it' I felt like that. The coach likes to play with confidence within a quick count. I'm confident in my fastball, so I thought it was a chance to be loved," he said with a big smile. Manager Kim Tae-hyung also said, `We don't prepare as a starter this season, so the number of pitches is too small. We will prepare him as a starter from this winter."
When asked if he is still a little skinny for the full season, Hong Min-ki said, `If you wear a uniform, you look like that, but you are 1m84 tall and weigh more than 90kg. It's all muscles. You can't throw a fast ball without it"He also expressed his pride in taking care of his body. He added, `If the position is selected next year, I think it will be necessary to raise it further.'
In the end, the value of a fireball depends on how accurately you can throw that fastball, or at least put it in the strike zone. In the case of Hong Min-ki, it was a special effect to change the pitching form.
It used to be a so-called 'Crossfire' type pitching foam. The pitching motion itself was bigger than now. I felt like I was turning around with my first foot toward first base.
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It's most regrettable that I didn't finish the 5th inning during the previous Hanwha match. Hong Min-ki said, "At that time, I went down from the second and third bases with no outs in the fifth inning, and it was the most regrettable moment while playing baseball. Next time you get a chance to start again?? I want to interview him as a winning pitcher."
As for the match against Samsung, he felt a sense of responsibility that he had to stop it and change the team's atmosphere. I prepared well so that it wouldn't be a problem if I went in right away, and my condition wasn't bad. "Thanks to the coaches' confidence, I will be a player who will contribute to the team, who will play my role anywhere."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
