"If I had raised him like Moon Dong-ju..." Lotte 1R left-hander, who is sure of his teacher and junior, how to use it
"If I had raised him like Moon Dong-ju..." Lotte 1R left-hander, who is sure of his teacher and junior, how to use it
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Will Kim Tae-hyun, the first-round left-hander of the Lotte Giants, succeed from the first year after his debut in the 2025 season? His teacher and junior at Gwangju Jeil High School were also certain of Kim's success. The key is how Kim Tae-hyung, the "master" coach, will immediately use Kim as his energy.안전놀이터
Lotte selected Gwangju Jeil High School left-hander Kim Tae-hyun as the first round pick in the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft held in September last year.
Kim Tae-hyun, born in 2005, is a left-handed orthodox pitcher who measures 185 centimeters tall and weighs 87 kilograms. When he was a junior in high school, he recorded a special record of 6-2 with a 1.47 ERA, 88 strikeouts and 0.75 in on-base allowed per inning in 17 official games last year.
Park Joon-hyun, the general manager of Lotte, who nominated Kim Tae-hyun, said, "I thought he had a good direct ball movement and could play enough as a starting pitcher for Lotte, such as curve angle, speed change, and deception. Now that the ratio of left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters is 1 to 1, I think the evaluation of left-handed pitchers will be higher," he said, revealing the background of the designation.
Kim's strength is outstanding vertical movement and flexible pitching form. At the 5th World Baseball Championship (U-23) in September last year, Kim pitched 3.2 innings of five strikeouts, one run and led the team to victory against Taiwan. Lotte showed high expectations for Kim by paying a down payment of 300 million won.
"Actually, I didn't know that (Kim) Tae-hyun would be able to advance to the first round nomination like this," said Cho Yoon-chae, manager of Gwangju Jeil High School who has been watching Kim Tae-hyun for a long time. He thought that he would show competitiveness only when his ball speed increases, but at some point, he solved the problem by himself. "He is a player who is competitive as a player with a natural ball end and left-hander," Cho said. "I think it would be better if he developed himself into a starting pitcher step by step like Moon Dong-ju from Hanwha. It is obvious that any position can instantly give strength this year."
Gwangju Jeil High School pitcher and infielder Kim Sung-joon, who is considered the No. 1 candidate for the rookie of the year in 2026, was also certain of Kim Tae-hyun's performance. "(Kim) Tae-hyun encouraged me that I will be able to get a first-round nomination if I prepare well like now. If I meet him in the first division next year, I will have to face Tae-hyun, but I don't think it will be easy because the ball is too good. I believe he will play in the first division right away from this year," Kim said with a smile.
Attention is also focusing on what direction Lotte Club and head coach Kim Tae-hyung will use Kim Tae-hyun in the first division of the 2025 season. With the lack of left-handers in both the starting lineup and the bullpen, the key is whether Kim Tae-hyun will receive a step-by-step starting class or start as a left-hander must-win team in the bullpen. It is expected that a different process will be needed from pitcher Kim Jin-wook, who had a long time of trial and error after joining the team as a left-hander in the same first round.
"If I have a chance, I want to play against Choi Jung, Choi Hyung-woo, and Son Ah-seop," Kim Tae-hyun, who was confident of his first season of debut in 2025, said. "I imagined playing against seniors, but I will prepare well for my debut season because I have a chance only when I go to the mound of the first team."
"I want to become Lotte's flagship player. I think he has the ball power that can be recognized as a professional player. I believe that if we supplement our breaking balls and ball control, we will be able to produce good results," he said.