Kim Hye-sung, who was reluctant to comment during the MLB promotion process, said, “Building a good body comes first.”
Second baseman Kim Hye-seong won the defensive award.
Kiwoom second baseman Kim Hye-seong, who won the KBO League Defense Award, is taking a commemorative photo at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Awards Ceremony held at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 27th.
Kim Hye-seong (25, Kiwoom Heroes), who announced her intention to challenge for the Major League Baseball (MLB) in the American professional baseball league, did not say anything about the specific process.
Kim Hye-seong met with reporters before the KBO Golden Glove Awards ceremony held at COEX Auditorium in Seoul on the 11th and said, “To challenge (MLB), the priority is to get my body in good condition.”
When asked, “Are you talking to the team about entering the U.S.?” he answered, “It’s not happening. The schedule doesn’t fit,” and then briefly said, “(In the meeting with the manager) we had a good discussion about various things.”
He added, “I think improving my body is more important than meeting with the club,” adding, “My number one goal next year is to do better than I did this year.”
Previously, Kim Hye-sung said after the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) ended last month, “Since (Lee) Jung-hoo is also taking on the challenge following (Kim) Ha-seong, I feel like I want to improve my skills and go (to MLB).”
As the Kiwoom club produced three major leaguers through the posting system, including Kang Jeong-ho (Pittsburgh Pirates) in 2014, Park Byeong-ho (Minnesota Twins) in 2015, and Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres) in 2020, there is a high possibility that it will respond to Kim Hye-sung’s wishes. .
As Lee Jeong-hoo informed the club of his intention to enter the United States on December 19 of last year and the club approved it on January 2 of the following year, Kim Hye-sung is expected to have to go through a similar process.
However, Kim Hye-sung appears to have expressed a cautious stance today, judging that more ‘self-proof’ is needed at the moment.
Kim Hye-seong’s career records in the KBO League are a batting average of 0.300, 877 hits, 26 home runs, 311 RBI, 501 runs, 181 stolen bases, and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.753.
It is true that his batting ability is evaluated to be somewhat inferior to that of Kim Ha-seong (batting average of 0.294, 133 home runs, 575 RBI) or Lee Jeong-hoo (batting average of 0.340, 515 RBI, OPS 0.898).
Meanwhile, Kim Hye-seong, who received the Golden Glove as a shortstop in 2021 and as a second baseman last year, said, “When I first received the award, I didn’t want to miss it, so I worked hard. I hope I can receive the award this year as well.”
He said, “I don’t know where I will stand next year, but I will work hard to become a perfect player in every position.” 19가이드03