"Nifert, Oh Seung-hwan, and Kim Taek-yeon..." Yang Eui-ji picked "three KBO fastballs..." "Throwing it in a sophisticated way, not like a young friend."
Aug 08, 2024
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It's a great compliment among the praises.
Yang Eui-ji of the Doosan Bears, Korea's best catcher, rated the fastball of Kim Taek-yeon (19), a high school graduate rookie, as the highest level. He said he was the No. 3 among the balls of many pitchers he has received so far. The first is Dustin Nippert, the second is Oh Seung-hwan. And the third is Kim Taek-yeon.
In the home game against the LG Twins in Jamsil on the 6th, Kim Taek-yeon took the mound in the top of the 8th inning with one out and two strikeouts in a thin ice lead by 7-6 and one run, and allowed no hit, one walk and two strikeouts in the first ⅔ until the 9th inning, securing the victory and making a save. It was very impressive to see him strongly spray his main weapon, fastball. He threw 28 balls on the day, and as many as 24 were fastballs. In particular, in the crisis in the top of the eighth inning, everyone only played with fastballs.
And in the top of the ninth inning, he threw only a fastball against Park Dong-won, who is strong in fastball, and caught him with a blunder.
When I asked Yang Eui-ji, who signed the autograph, about the situation at the time, he said "Tae-yeon must have been confident." Yang Eui-ji made a strong performance in the game on the 7th and interviewed reporters after the game. While asking various questions, I asked questions about Kim Taek-yeon and asked about the game the day before. Yang Eui-ji said, `Yesterday (6th) the fastball was very good. So when I walked to Moon Bo-kyung and went to the mound, he said that the fastball was good, so the course was good. And in the ninth inning, I asked him to mix some breaking balls, but when I faced Park Dong-won, he said, "I didn't like other signs, so I only kept giving fastball signs." That Kim Taek-yeon wanted to win with a fastball. He threw all six balls with a fastball and the result was a fly to center field.
In terms of speed, Kim Taek-yeon's fastball is not as fast as Moon Dong-ju and Kim Seo-hyun of Hanwha Eagles, but as fast as early as 150km. Instead, Yang Eui-ji explained that the ball is strong and has excellent ball power. Yang Eui-ji said "Among the pitchers I've ever received, after Nippert Oh Seung-hwan" The power is different"
At the same time, he also said another advantage of Kim Taek-yeon. That's the ball control. Yang Eui-ji said "Tae-yeon throws it finely so that it's not like a young friend" No matter how strong she has, it's right if she pushes her to the center, but Taec-yeon throws it hard to the borderline. So from the batter's point of view, it's hard to hit even if you aim for a fastball. I can't do it even if I know it."
Kim Taek-yeon is a treasure that Doosan, which has advanced to the Korean Series for seven consecutive years, was able to nominate as it fell to ninth place in 2022. It started as a mid-season duel and has settled down since mid-June. He has taken the mound in 47 games this season, recording 2-1 with 13 saves and four holds with an ERA of 2.01.
It is considered the 0th best rookie award because it has the best performance among rookies.
The record for the most saves by high school graduates in history is 16 saves posted by Lotte Giants Na Seung-hyun in 2006. If Kim Taek-yeon raises four more, she will set a new record, and if she adds seven to score 20, a high school graduate will surpass 20 saves for the first time in history.
The record for the most saves by rookies in history, including college graduates, was 28 saves recorded by Cho Yong-joon of the Hyundai Unicorns in 2002.
indyk@sportschosun.com
