By Lee Sang-cheol = Kim Bum-seok, a 19-year-old rookie catcher for the Twins who LG Twins president Cha Myung-seok hailed as “synonymous with Korean baseball,” may hang up his catcher’s mask in the wake of a shoulder injury. Manager Yoon Kyung-yeop and the LG baseball team have been struggling with how to utilize Kim.
On the first day, Yeom said of Kim, “He’s been doing catcher training, but his throwing is still not good. In this situation, we can’t help but think about utilizing him in the first team next year.” “I think we will have to make a decision on the scope of utilization after the season ends.”
Kim Bum-seok, who graduated from Gyeongnam High School, was selected by LG with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the rookie draft last September. He was considered a catcher who would be responsible for LG’s future and signed a contract worth 250 million won.
However, Kim was excluded from the first team spring training due to his shoulder condition. He focused on rehabilitating his shoulder and is now playing in the Futures League as a designated hitter instead of a catcher.
His hitting ability has been recognized. As of Jan. 1, Kim is batting .297 with six home runs, 30 RBIs and 17 runs scored in the Futures League. At the Futures All-Star Game last month, he went 2-for-4 with one home run and four RBIs, including a massive 128.3-meter home run, and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP).
However, there was no place for the “all-hitting” Kim Bum-seok in the first team. He was added to the first team roster on June 3 and stayed there for five days before being sent down to the second team. His KBO performance was also unremarkable, with just one hit, one walk, one RBI, and one strikeout in four at-bats in two games.토토사이트
Yoon has left Kim out of his plans for the first team this year, but plans to utilize him actively next year. However, whether or not to develop him as a catcher is something that needs to be considered now.
“Next year, we need to give Kim Bum-seok a (first-team) chance, but he can’t continue to play only as a designated hitter. We have to see if he can play catcher (with his current form), and if not, we have to come up with another plan. We need to discuss what is the best direction for both the player and the club, such as whether to play first base and then go back to catcher or change positions altogether.”
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