Doosan lost 3-8 against Hanwha at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on June 27. Both pitchers and batters had to admit defeat in a difficult situation where they had nothing to say. The starting pitcher Choi Jun-ho collapsed as he allowed eight runs in four innings, and the batting line failed to make up for it. It was also a game in which the pattern of Doosan losing recently was revealed.
Choi Joon-ho gave three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second inning, making the game tangled from the start. If there was any leeway on the mound, the Doosan Bears would have changed pitchers early on, but the situation was not so good these days. Starting pitchers such as sluggish foreign pitchers and injuries, and ace Kwak Bin's rest left the mound due to various reasons, which shortened the inning, and the bullpen had to bear the burden. It was inevitable that the pitcher who allowed seven runs through the second inning had no choice but to lead the pitcher to the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, one consolation was that the following three pitchers (Park Jung-soo, Lee Kyo-hoon, and Kim Yoo-sung) were able to leave Daejeon to minimize consumption of pitchers by blocking the remaining four innings. In particular, Kim Yu-seong (22) took the mound in the eighth inning was impressive. Kim struck out all three out counts on the day and finished the inning neatly. His ball power surprised everyone. According to Trackman, which provides tracking data to nine KBO league teams, Kim's maximum speed was 154.6 kilometers per hour, breaking his own record for this season.
The pitch of the first inning with all his might was quite attractive. However, he has already shown his strengths and weaknesses. Doosan also has a lot of worries. Doosan manager Lee Seung-yup said, "I can't really guess." He can also start the game as a starter in terms of ball power, but it was regrettable that there was a big gap between situations where there is not much pressure and situations where it is important. Lee hoped that Kim Yu-seong would narrow the gap.
Manager Lee said, "When there is a big difference in scores, when it has nothing to do with winning or losing, and when there is no pressure, he actually shows good pitching. However, if you throw like that and raise it in a tight situation, the ball keeps increasing," adding, "Since he is a young player, I think he needs more time. But when I look at our pitching staff, I don't have much time to give him that."
Manager Lee then defined, "He is a player who can be a starter just by looking at his condition and throwing," and added, "When I threw as a starter, there were many cases where he was shaken as the number of balls increased in the beginning. I think I have to judge that, and I think I should throw it in the middle rather than the starting pitcher at the moment, but I think the situation can change at any time depending on the condition of the next pitchers of the starting team," he said, opening up various ways to utilize it depending on the current status of the team's pitching staff and the stability of Kim Yoo-sung's performance.
Kim Yu-seong, who was considered one of the best pitchers in high school, joined Doosan in 2023 after being drafted in the second round (19th overall). Doosan had high hopes for Kim's potential despite criticism, although he suffered a setback due to his nomination due to unfavorable circumstances in high school. He played in seven games in the first division last year, and has one win, one loss and an ERA of 5.19 in eight games in the first division this year. In the Futures League, he pitched 34 innings in six games, with four wins and no losses, with an ERA of 1.85. In fact, the performance was nothing more to prove in the Futures League. It is an important time to establish himself in the first division. 고소득알바
In fact, most young pitchers have experienced ups and downs in their pitching and performance in every game. Kim Yu-seong is not out of the process, either. However, his talent itself is certainly attractive. He seems to be standing before the most important threshold of reducing ups and downs and finding a sense of stability in his performance. Only when he overcomes that hurdle can he secure a spot in the first team. The time has come for both a club and a player.