In 2008, 20-year-old Kim Gwang-hyun participated in the Beijing Olympics as the youngest member of the baseball team. After his professional debut, he wore the Taegeuk mark for the first time. He took the mound as a starter in both the full league match and the semifinal against Japan, laying the foundation for victory. Thanks to Kim Gwang-hyeon’s good fight, Korea won the gold medal by winning 9 matches.
In 2023, thirty-five-year-old Kim Gwang-hyun joined the World Baseball Classic (WBC) team to be held next month. This is the 6th international competition. It may be the last chance for Kim Gwang-hyun, who has risen to the senior ranks, to compete with the Taegeuk mark. He threw 57.2 innings in 16 games in the previous five tournaments and holds the record for the most innings for the Korean national baseball team.
It is the first time in 4 years since the Premier12, which won runner-up in 2019, that the national team will play. On the 11th (local time), Kim Gwang-hyun met with reporters at the SSG Spring Camp, Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida카지노사이트, USA and said, “I always tried to win the game with all my might. I will play the game with the same mindset this time as well.”
Kim Kwang-hyun feels proud of the word ‘still Kim Kwang-hyun’. He said, “I think I still have a competitive edge among the outstanding juniors,” but “I feel sad whenever I hear that Korean baseball is at a standstill. I will work hard to show that I am still alive in this competition.”
Last month, he held a mini camp in Okinawa, Japan. He built his body by leading four SSG left-handed juniors, including Oh Won-seok, Baek Seung-gun, Park Si-hoo, and Lee Ki-soon. Kim Kwang-hyun, who hates the cold, is also satisfied with the Florida spring camp. He said, “I think I need to take care of my body thoroughly because I have to play the (KBO League) season again after the WBC.”
Kim Kwang-Hyun volunteered to be the ‘adaptation helper’ for SSG’s three new foreign players this winter. This is because he himself also had the experience of struggling in an unfamiliar land when he first entered the major leagues in 2020. He said, “Those friends shouldn’t have to go through the difficulties or difficulties I had while I was in the US for two years. If possible, I try to pay more attention and tell the story. How lonely it must be.”
On the 14th, he will move to Arizona to start training for the national team. In SSG, infielder Choi Jeong and outfielder Choi Ji-hoon go together. I want to train in a fun atmosphere with my juniors. Although he is a seasoned player, he still has a desire to grow. Kim Gwang-hyun said, “I have experienced a lot of national team experience, but I think there will be something else to learn from watching how the best players in Korea gather to practice and play. I will become a player who develops one step further.” He cited NC Chang-mo Koo as a likely candidate to succeed the lineage of the left-handed ace and said, “There will be things to learn from watching Chang-mo Koo’s pitching.”
In the national team, he will reunite with Tommy Edman, a Korean infielder who ate a pot of rice in St. Louis. I also plan to say hello to my former colleague Lars Nuthba, who will play for the Japanese national team in Group B along with Korea. The goal of the Korean national team is to advance to the semifinals. If Kim Gwang-hyun heads to Miami, USA, where the championship round will be held, he can greet more of his St. Louis teammates and at the same time restore his pride in Korean baseball.