Only 20 years old No. 1 → Unhonored No. 1 hardship, why were you willing to accept it...Experience can't be bought even with money
Sep 06, 2025
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Doosan Bears' Kim Taek-yeon was a rookie who shook the KBO League last year. After graduating from Incheon High School, he joined Doosan as the second-ranked player in the first round in 2024, and dominated the league with a heavy fastball, securing a finishing pitcher in his first year of debut. Last season, he won the Rookie of the Year award with 60 games, 3 wins, 19 saves, 4 holds, 65 innings and a 2.08 ERA.
Kim Taek-yeon, who was the No. 1 rookie, faced her first ordeal this year in her second year as a professional. He has eight blon saves and is currently ranked No. 1 in disgrace. The figure can be interpreted as becoming the most anxious closer in the league in a year. Even if I couldn't express it to my heart's content, I had to endure tremendous pressure and stress.
Doosan kept Kim Taek-yeon on the mound. I even gave him time to reorganize in the second division, but I let him learn while holding out. Due to the circumstances of the Doosan bullpen, he could not afford to exclude Kim Taek-yeon for 10 days, and considered him a natural growth pain in his only 20-year-old career this year. If you were a player who won the Rookie of the Year award, it was right to keep bumping into each other in the first team and find an answer.
Kim Taek-yeon led the team to a 9-3 victory against the Changwon NC Dinos on the 5th, preventing a finishing loss. He took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and runners on first base and allowed one walk and two strikeouts in ⅔ innings, dragging him to the 10th inning. Doosan's batters scored six runs in the top of the 10th inning, giving Kim Taek-yeon his third win of the season.
Kim Taek-yeon seemed to be twisted again when he walked Kim Joo-won, the first batter, with a straight walk. Kim Joo-won was a tricky opponent who hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh inning with Doosan leading 3-0, so it felt more painful to allow free on-base hits.
Kim Taek-yeon passed Han Go-bi by striking out Choi Won-joon, the next batter, with a swing and miss. He played with four fastballs. Once again, he continued to stick to NC slugger Park Kun-woo with a fastball to become a ball count of 2B2S, and he struck out by drawing a swing and miss with a slider in the sixth pitch. Doosan was able to win two consecutive games thanks to Kim Taek-yeon overcoming the crisis of finishing loss.
Doosan's acting manager Cho Sung-hwan praised `Closer Kim Taek-yeon took the mound for the first time in a long time and threw a very powerful ball.'
Kim Taek-yeon said, `First of all, it was on the verge of finishing, and (Kim) Joo-won, who also had a home run in the previous at-bat, tried to throw it on the course where he didn't get the longest hit, but I think I lacked a little preparation before coming up. It was fortunate that the next batter was caught. I think it was a good thing that the results were satisfactory."
He said it was the result of gaining experience in the process of making eight Blon saves this year.
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How did the batters who scored six runs in the 10th inning watch.
Kim Taek-yeon said, `Once you prevent a crisis, baseball has an opportunity. There was a belief that the team would win if I blocked it when it became the first and second bases, so I was able to throw with strength in the ninth inning. I'm also grateful that the team brothers and seniors repaid that belief.'
Despite her struggles, Kim Taek-yeon recorded 3 wins and 4 losses, 23 saves, 62 innings and an ERA of 3.48 in 60 games this year. Although there were more failures than last year, there were more moments that contributed to the team's victory. He also set his personal record for a season.
Kim Taek-yeon said "I thought I learned a lot last year, but I don't think I've learned as much as I did this year. I think I still have to bump into it more. I think I'm looking forward to next season more because I have a lot of really good experiences. I think I'm looking forward to next season more because I'm looking forward to it again in the second half of the year. I'm looking forward to the rest of the game because there's still this season left." He continued to express his desire to test himself.
What is the reason why the ups and downs have been so severe this year that they found themselves.
Kim Taek-yeon said "I think the balance collapsed completely at once. Just as pitchers gain confidence when they strike out because they like the ball, and if they lose faith in their own ball, they naturally lose confidence and do not follow the results. I think the dilemma of taking a lot of rest and throwing came out a lot as a bad result. During that experience, I learned a lot about how to prepare for the next game when I rested a lot and how to prepare for the next game once I made a blon save. If the result had been followed at least when it collapsed at once, it could have been a turning point, but I think (the sluggishness) continued because the result did not come out."
Doosan now has 17 games left this season. Doosan, ranked ninth, has recently won two consecutive games, trailing the eighth-ranked KIA Tigers by 1.5 games. In the current atmosphere, there is a high possibility that he will be out of the second lowest ranking in the club's history.
Regarding his goals for the rest of the season, Kim Taek-yeon said, `If I go up to the team lead situation, of course, I want to reduce my blosave. I want to do what I used to do with confidence, and try other balls when I faced left-handed hitters or test what I didn't do continuously. I want to keep learning for the rest of the season" showed a willingness.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
