“If you’re stressed, your overall skills will decline.”
Kim Ki-yeon (26, Doosan Bears) is a card that Doosan Bears ambitiously chose ahead of this season.
After graduating from Jinheung High School, he joined LG in the 2nd round of the 2016 rookie draft (34th overall), and was selected in the 1st round by Doosan in the 2nd draft held after the end of last season. Doosan judged that Kim Ki-yeon was worth 400 million won in compensation.
This season, Kim Ki-yeon quickly established himself as Doosan’s first-team catcher. His offensive skills were evaluated as good early on. There were some comments that his defense was somewhat lacking, but through intensive training, he acquired the skills to play as a first-team catcher.
Kim Ki-yeon’s bat, which had been somewhat sluggish in the second half, exploded actively after coming to his ‘hometown.’
The team fell to 6th place after losing 4 consecutive games. Kim Ki-yeon hit a two-run double in his first at-bat, and then hit a double in the fifth and eighth innings.
Doosan won 12-7 and was able to end its losing streak.
Kim Ki-yeon smiled and said, “Fortunately, I was able to score when I needed to score, so I was able to win the game easily. I was in a bad losing streak, but I was able to break it, and I was able to play a good game, so I think it was a turning point for me.”
He also had a lot of concerns about his batting sense that had not improved in the second half.
He said, “I’ve been losing confidence lately because I haven’t been hitting the bat, and I’ve seen a lot of balls and have had a lot of swings and misses on ridiculous balls. 바카라사이트 I think it worked out well to try to shake off my thoughts as much as possible and approach it easily.”
Doosan has Yang Eui-ji, who is considered the best catcher in the KBO League. He is also Kim Ki-yeon’s high school senior. He is the best textbook for Kim Ki-yeon. Kim Ki-yeon said, “(Yang) Ui-ji is also respected when I see him at the plate. I want to be a player like him, even if I’m not as good as him,” and added, “He also talked to me a lot when things weren’t going well. There were many difficult games because of me, and he told me not to stress because my overall skills would decline if I got stressed out.”
On the other hand, since Yang Ui-ji is the starting catcher, the standards for Kim Ki-yeon were bound to be a little higher. It wasn’t easy for Kim Ki-yeon to get his bearings when he didn’t even get hit. Kim Ki-yeon said, “People around me told me that I was doing well enough now, so I shouldn’t get stressed out about that. I was already doing well, and I’m doing well, so I think that made me feel a little better.”
Recently, Doosan couldn’t play in many games due to a sprained ankle.
They brought up catcher Jang Gyu-bin from the second team to reinforce the catcher position. Kim Ki-yeon also felt a sense of responsibility. He said, “My senior is sick, so I may play more games, but if the team ranking drops when my senior is out, it won’t be good, so I hope we can win well until he comes back and get good results to move up.”
The great performance shown in his hometown. The secret was ‘home cooking’. Kim Ki-yeon said, “I ate home cooking the day before. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to my hometown, and the food was all delicious.