Highly touted high school catcher's ordeal ends with elbow surgery, season over

Kiwoom Heroes' Kim Dong-heon (20) goes under the knife.

On September 9, Kiwoom announced the injury of Kim Dong-heon. Kim injured his elbow while playing in the Futures League. After complaining of elbow pain, he was diagnosed with a torn ligament and will have to undergo surgery. The rehabilitation process is expected to take about a year. His season came to an early end. Kim Dong-heon's baseball career took a turn for the worse.

After graduating from Chungam High School, Kim joined the Heroes with the 12th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 rookie draft. He quickly made a name for himself and gained experience at the first team level. He alternated with veteran catcher Lee Ji-young and logged 522 defensive innings. He also performed well at the plate. In 102 games, he batted .242 (51 hits in 211 at-bats) with a .318 on-base percentage, .313 slugging percentage, and .631 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), showing promise.

He has already cleared his military service. He was named to the Korean National Baseball Team for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, where he won a gold medal. With his 카지노 military service exemption, he was able to focus on baseball without interrupting his career. In his first year, Kim has already accomplished a lot.

Kim worked harder in training to improve. He wants to establish himself as a solid starting catcher. Kiwoom sent Lee Ji-young to SSG Landers in a sign-and-trade. Kim didn't want to miss this opportunity.

With the support of the club, he began preparing for the season at the Goyang National Baseball Training Center, a second-team stadium. He changed his batting stance to develop his offense, which is his strength. In particular, he tried to improve his ability to handle balls to the body, which was one of his weaknesses.

He also worked on his catching skills. He worked hard on his defense to prepare for the increase in stealing attempts due to the automatic pitch judgment system (ABS) and the increase in base sizes. "My defense improved as I played more games last season," Kim said. But to become a better catcher, I need to cut down on my defense even more than I am now. I need to do two or three times better than last year to become a starting catcher," he said.

However, Kim has only appeared in two games this season. He batted .200 (1-for-5) with a .429 slugging percentage, .200 on-base percentage, and .629 OPS. Furthermore, he struggled with his throwing and was demoted to the second team. While training in the Futures League, Kim suffered an injury that put him 메이저 토토사이트 on the disabled list. His last appearance was on May 5 against the LG Twins.

In Kim's absence, Kim Jae-hyun is expected to continue to lead the lineup. Kim Jae-hyun is a Daejeon High School product who was selected in the eighth round, 76th overall, in the 2012 draft. He has been a steady pitching lead and defensive standout for the Heroes. "Kim Jae-hyun leads our young pitchers well," said Hong Won-ki. He is also making a great contribution to the offense from the bottom of the batting order," said Hong Won-ki, who praised Kim's performance.