The most regretful thing about being nominated as a professional is KIA 1R rookie's stinging self-reflection and asking his juniors
Sep 18, 2025
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KIA Tigers' rookie pitcher Kim Tae-hyung properly tasted the bitterness of this year's professional game. Kim Tae-hyung, a former ace of Deoksu High School, was nominated by KIA with the fifth overall ranking in the first round of the 2025 rookie draft. Kia, which boasts the most wins in its KBO career, was happy to be a first-round rookie and enjoyed the moment so much that it neglected to prepare for the offseason.
I expressed 'I neglected', but the expression 'lack of experience' would be more correct. I spent the winter without any data on what direction and how much intensity I should train to play professionally. There is help from the club, but the completeness is ultimately determined by the player. Kim Tae-hyung needed time to realize by hitting himself.
At the beginning of the season, Kim Tae-hyung himself was shocked. Even in high school, a pitcher who threw a fastball of 150km/h or more came to the professional league and his speed dropped to the early 140km/h range. He is a pitcher who just graduated from high school and is not a skilled player, so his breaking ball control is poor, but even his fastball, his main weapon, has dropped, so he could not prove his skills in the first team immediately.
It was only after September that Kim Tae-hyung began to show his skills in the first team. Kim Tae-hyung, who took the mound in relief on the 11th, pitched four innings with Kim Do-hyun, the starting pitcher for the Lotte Giants in Gwangju, being replaced early in two innings due to elbow inflammation. He recorded a maximum fastball speed of 152km and an average speed of 148km. It was an achievement as soon as he returned from 36 days of reorganization in the second division.
Kim Tae-hyung started against the Hanwha Eagles in Gwangju on the 16th and pitched another four innings of one run. On this day, the maximum speed of the fastball was 152km. It was not easy to deceive Hanwha hitters with breaking balls such as sliders, curves, and folk balls, but they made the desired result by hitting them with a powerful fastball. Although the team suffered its first professional loss by losing 1-11, Kim Tae-hyung instilled expectations to enrich the KIA mound next year.
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Kim Tae-hyung left a heartfelt message in hopes that his juniors would not repeat their painful failures.
Kim Tae-hyung said "I regret most because I liked being nominated as a professional, so I worked out, but I don't think I did as much as I did in high school. I don't think I've shown good performance since the beginning of the season. I hope you have a little bit of a good feeling to be nominated now, and I hope you work out hard right away from the end of the camp. I said I was working hard, but looking back, I could have worked harder, but I think I took it easy.'
KIA named Kim Hyun-soo, a second-round Kwangnam High School BC pitcher, Kim Min-kyu, a third-round Hwimung outfielder, Jeong Chan-hwa, a fifth-round Cheongdam High School pitcher, Ji Hyun, a sixth-round Jemulpo High School pitcher, Park Jong-hyuk, a seventh-round Deoksu High School infielder, Choi Yoo-chan, an eighth-round Asan BC pitcher, a ninth-round Incheon High School infielder Han Joon-hee, a 10th-round Song Won-dae pitcher, and Lee Do-hoon, a 11th-round Gwangju Dongseong High School catcher.
KIA Scout Group Chairman Sungho Kim named the pitcher mainly for resources that can be used in future bullpens through systematic development. The fielder gave priority to players with good defense"I hope that the players nominated today (17th) will show off their potential and grow into good professional players." he said.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
