Samsung's Kim Jae-yoon and Rafak added lessons from 'Oh Seung-hwan' to 'Oh Seung-hwan's successor.'
Samsung's Kim Jae-yoon and Rafak added lessons from 'Oh Seung-hwan' to 'Oh Seung-hwan's successor.'
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Samsung Lions pitcher Kim Jae-yoon had a special season last year. He was the runner-up in the Korean Series in his first year as a free agent.토토사이트
What was more special was his teamwork with the role model. Known as a fan of Oh for a long time, he created synergy as soon as he teamed up with his role model. Having competed with Oh for the closing pitcher position before the season, he took over Oh's baton in the middle of the season and took over the team's back door.
It was regrettable in that sense, however. Oh failed to complete the entire season with Oh. Last year, Oh cruised to 24 saves through June, but suffered a slump starting in the summer and had to hand over his position to Kim Jae-yoon. Oh also had a disappointing season after failing to appear in Samsung's fall baseball games.
Kim Jae-yoon, who met at Gyeongsan Ball Park on the 26th, said, "I was sorry that I couldn't finish the season with my senior last year." He said, "I recently had a pitching group dinner with Oh Seung-hwan. It must have been hard for you, but my juniors comforted me that the pitchers worked hard without showing any difficulty. I sat at the same table and heard a lot of good stories," expressing gratitude and respect. As a role model and colleague before the position competitor, he vowed to make the new season well together.
This year, Kim Jae-yoon will start the season as the closing pitcher. "The closing pitcher is Kim Jae-yoon," Samsung manager Park Jin-man said before leaving for Guam, Samsung's first spring camp site, on the 23rd. Samsung, which selected Oh Seung-hwan as the closing pitcher after last year's competition, will prepare for the season by leaving the back door to Kim Jae-yoon without much competition this year.
Kim Jae-yoon is familiar with the closing pitcher. He already has 169 saves for his former team KT Wiz. Last year, the first year of his transfer to Samsung, he started as a setup man, but moved to the closing pitcher midway through the season to add 11 saves. Kim Jae-yoon played in 25 games in the second half with 10 saves and six holds and an earned run average of 3.55, helping his team win second place in the Korean Series. He also made two saves (four games) in the postseason, helping his team win second place in the Korean Series.
"The closing pitcher is a position that I have been in (KT) for, so I'm going to do as I prepared," Kim Jae-yoon said. "Last year, it was a burden, not a burden, to compete among great players such as (Oh) Seung-hwan and (Im) Chang-min, but this year, I feel at ease (because my position has been decided). I think I can prepare with a clear direction. I will prepare well as much as you trust me."
His one-year experience at Daegu Samsung Lions Park (hereinafter referred to as Rafak) is also a nourishing factor. Lapak is a batter-friendly stadium in the KBO League, and it is also a very burdensome stadium for pitchers as it has long balls including home runs. Kim Jae-yoon, who played with two home runs and an ERA of 2.60 for KT in 2023, also had 13 home runs and an ERA of 4.09 last year.
"I still feel pressured. I feel that way more because I'm a type of flying ball," Kim said. "I'm mixing different balls to induce more ground balls. As the strike zone will be lowered in the new season (due to the change in the ABS zone), I will prepare to induce swings with a clear breaking ball. Since I experienced it for a year (at Rafak), I think I'll get better this year." He added that he is also working on a new breaking ball to achieve this goal.
Kim Jae-yoon has only one personal goal. Making fewer blon saves. "The final pitcher should be responsible for the last (winner). If he makes blon saves, he loses energy and trust in the entire team. I think it is important to make as few blon saves as possible," he said.
Currently, Kim Jae-yoon is in the rehabilitation team at Gyeongsan Ballpark, the site of the second-tier spring camp, rather than the first-tier spring camp. "I stayed in Korea because I wanted to make my body more certain. I will make sure to get fit and join the first-tier spring camp in Okinawa, Japan," Kim said with strength.