Hanwha Eagles super rookie Kim Seo-hyun tasted bitterness on the first-team mound he climbed after 64 days. He painfully experienced the obvious truth that no matter how fast a ball is, it is meaningless if it is not the first ball.
Kim Seo-hyun recorded 2 ⅔ innings, 3 hits, 6 walks, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts and 4 runs in a match against Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 11th.
Kim Seo-hyun climbed the mound with the start of the fourth inning, where the Hanhwa trailed 0-7 that day. After going down to the 2nd team due to a minor injury after the match against Doosan Bears on June 7, it was time to check the results while continuing to receive starting classes in the Futures League.
Seohyun Kim was originally scheduled to start for the first time since her professional debut against KT Wiz in Suwon on the 10th, but the game was canceled under the influence of Typhoon ‘Kanon’ and the next day she went to check her condition and pitch.
The flow of the game was actually focused on Doosan, so the burden was not great, but Kim Seo-hyun had difficulty controlling it. After sending lead hitter Kim Jae-ho to first base with a ball that hit his body, he immediately got a right-handed hit by Lohas and was driven to 1st and 2nd base safely.
He struck out Yang Seok-hwan and took a breather, but gave Kim Jae-hwan a walk, and a bigger hurdle came with a run and a full base. After exchanging the score and the out count when Kang Seung-ho grounded, he treated Kim In-tae as a center fielder’s floating ball and finished the top of the 4th inning with difficulty.
Even in the beginning of the 5th inning, Kim Seo-hyun could not find stability. After one out, Heo Gyeong-min walked on base and allowed Su-bin Su with 1 RBI and 3 bases. When Kim Jae-ho grounded the infield, Soo-bin Jeong stepped on the home plate and allowed more runs.
After two deaths, he self-destructed by giving three consecutive walks to Lohas, Yang Seok-hwan, and Kim Jae-hwan. It was too easy to give up 6 runs in 2 innings while hitting pinch hitter Ahn Jae-seok with 1 RBI and a timely hit.
The Hanwha bench also put Kim Seo-hyun on the mound in the top of the 6th inning. In a situation where the game was already on the rise, the game was operated as if to increase the number of pitches for Kim Seo-hyun as much as possible.
Kim Seo-Hyun, however, gave a hit ball to Jang Seung-Hyun, the lead hitter, and even came out with a wild fight when the follow-up hitter, Heo Gyeong-Min, was at bat. Afterwards, Sue-bin walked, and after two outs, Rojas walked, and it was difficult to control.안전놀이터
Of the 81 pitches Kim Seo-hyun threw that day, only 38 were strikes. Since his strike rate is only 30.78%, he has no choice but to lose in a battle with batters and ball counts. A fastball with a maximum speed of 156km and an average speed of 152km was useless.
Kim Seo-hyun has been called a ‘super high school level’ pitcher since high school. He was praised for not only easily throwing fastballs against the 150km range, but also having a strong mentality unmatched by a young pitcher. He had a reason why Hanhwa gave him a down payment of 500 million won.
However, his first team record in his debut season is not impressive with 19 games, 1 save, and 6.64 ERA. He has a jagged pitch with 19 walks and 7 hit balls in 20⅓ innings. He is forced to pay tuition fees that are too expensive to allow him to gain selection experience in the first team.
The schedule for Kim Seo-hyun’s next pitching has yet to be determined, but the concerns of the Hanwha coaching staff have deepened. There is no problem with his pitch, but he has to find some way to improve as his control and game management skills reveal his immaturity.