The three players (Kim Seok-hwan, Kim Kyu-seong, and Choi Ji-min) dispatched by KIA to Australian professional baseball Geelong Korea in the 2022-2023 offseason produce satisfactory results. Kim Seok-hwan returned to Korea after achieving desired results, and Kim Kyu-seong and Choi Ji-min are also active in pitching.
Somehow, I am interested in Kim Seok-hwan’s move in a situation where KIA puts its life and death on fostering native geopo. Kim Seok-hwan played 10 games for Geelong Korea, with 10 hits in 34 at-bats, a batting average of 0.294, 4 home runs, 10 RBIs, 5 runs, and an OPS of 1.105. He wondered if he would have kept up a good pace had he been in the game until recently.
Coach Lee Kang-cheol of the WBC national team affirmed that the level of the Australian league is one step below the KBO league. However, it was predicted that players with top-notch performances in the league would succeed in the KBO league as well. It is unreasonable to substitute the individual performances of Geelong Korea players at face value for the first team in the KBO League, but it cannot be underestimated.
For a while, Kim Seok-hwan’s modifier ‘the second Lee Seung-yeop’ became a hot topic, and he had a hard time unlocking his potential as a great gun. Coach Kim Jong-guk appointed him as the starting pitcher for the 2022 spring camp practice game, demonstration game, and even the opening month of the regular season, but he failed to achieve results. In fact, Kim Seok-hwan went through a lot of trial and error since May, going back and forth between the 1st and 2nd divisions.
Another year passed. It’s the 2023 season. A 24-year-old left-handed gun prospect who has completed military service. There is plenty of time, but his place is not guaranteed. First, he entered the 36-man roster for Arizona spring camp. In the long term, it is ideal for the KIA to move the core of the batting line from Hyeong-woo Choi and Seong-beom Na to Dae-in Hwang and Seok-hwan Kim. However, it is possible only when Kim Seok-hwan produces results. 먹튀검증
Kim Seok-hwan has to fight until June, when Choi Won-joon (Sangmu) is discharged and returns. This is because when Choi Won-joon returns, there is a high possibility that the outfield will be reorganized into Choi Won-joon, Socrates Brito, and Na Seong-beom. Until then, it is expected that he will compete fiercely with Lee Chang-jin, the main left fielder last year. Lee Woo-sung and Ko Jong-wook, who are not on the Arizona camp roster, are also potential contenders.
Let’s activate the ‘happiness circuit’ where Kim Seok-hwan has been the starting left fielder since the beginning of the season and Choi Won-joon returns while he is making a big success. In this case, Kim Seok-hwan can be turned into a first baseman or designated hitter. If so, the starting designated hitter and first baseman Choi Hyeong-woo and Hwang Dae-in should share their seats with Kim Seok-hwan.
In other words, if Choi Hyung-woo and Hwang Dae-in have a healthy tension, KIA will get a side effect. All of this is accompanied by the prerequisites for Kim Seok-hwan to settle down properly in the first team. For Kim Seok-hwan, once he settles down in the first team with a bat, and gets on the right track, even his defensive power will be evaluated. In any case, it is ideal to occupy a place in the KIA lineup in the long term.