“It’s even better to see him hit in practice.”
Now that he’s been called up, he’s had two at-bats as a pinch-hitter, and both times he’s hit a grounder, and LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yup has nothing but praise for him. He’s talking about Kim Bum-seok, a high school rookie catcher who was drafted in the first round this year.
Kim was the seventh pick in the first round of this year’s rookie draft. At the time of his selection, manager Cha Myung-seok said, “I took a picture of Kim Bum-seok. I hope that the proper name Kim Bum-seok will become synonymous with the KBO League in the future,” which attracted the attention of baseball fans.
He was unable to participate in the first team camp due to shoulder discomfort and got a late start. However, he played 34 games in the Futures League, batting 3-for-7 with six doubles, six home runs, and 24 RBIs in 109 at-bats, which was uncharacteristic of a high school rookie, and was called up to the first team on the third day after Yoon watched him train with the first team.
He got his chance to hit right away. In the bottom of the sixth inning, down 3-7, he came to bat with runners on first and second. He drew a fastball and then a second outside fastball, but was thrown out on a grounder to shortstop. In the top of the ninth, he drew three consecutive fouls at 1B1S before pulling back on a 116-mph curveball in front of the third baseman. He went 0-for-2 to end his debut.
“I only saw two at-bats, but I saw him better in practice than in training,” Yeom said. “Even though the result was bad, I saw enough potential in the way he handled himself at the plate and the way he swung, even though he didn’t get a hit.”
In fact, Yeom sees Kim’s real season as next year. “For him, the real season is next year. From now until the final training and spring training, our goal is to develop him into a player so that he can play in the first team next year.” “For now, he is experiencing the first team, and in the future, we will have him fill in the basics of defense with Coach Park Kyung-wan and hitting with Coach Lee Ho-joon.”스포츠토토
If Kim Bum-seok, who has a talent for hitting, has the defense to play in the first team next season, he could be a valuable addition to the team as an offensive catcher alongside Park Dong-won. “If (Kim) Bum-seok grows up, our cards are stacked,” Yoon said, “He can be the designated hitter or (Park) Dong-won can be the designated hitter, and we have a lot of left-handed hitters, so we’ll have another right-handed hitter. We want to grow Bum-seok to that level so that we can give Dong-won a lot of rest, so that even if we have Bum-seok, it won’t be a problem for the team, and then our batting lineup will be stronger.”