Hanwha Eagles rookie pitcher Kim Seo-hyeon (19) chose number 54 as her first professional uniform number since her debut.
Hanwha recently announced the team uniform number for the 2023 season, but Kim Seo-hyun picked number 54. Kim Seo-hyun, who wore the number 11 of her role model Choi Dong-won in high school, thought about how many times to wear when she came to the pros 메이저사이트.
Senior Nam Ji-min was using number 11, which Kim Seo-hyun wanted to use, and Chae Eun-seong had already taken number 22 as a free agent. Kim Seo-hyun chose a meaningful first number and decided to wear the empty number 54 as Lim Jun-seop left for SSG Landers.
The reason he picked number 54 wasn’t simply because it was an empty number. On the 29th of last month, before leaving for his first overseas spring camp, Seohyun Kim met reporters at the airport and said, “No. 54 was the uniform number of a high school friend. I was a friend who couldn’t go pro, so I chose it with the thought that I would work harder for that friend.”
Of the approximately 1,000 players who apply for the rookie draft each year, only 110 become pros. Kim Seo-hyun not only broke through the 10% chance, but also joined the pro with the first overall ranking this year. He goes on to the big stage with the dream of a friend who was selected as a rookie but failed to advance to the professional level.
Kim Seo-hyun said, “It’s my first time going to an overseas camp, so it’s awkward to carry luggage. When I go to camp, I’ll prepare to survive for a year with a healthy body. My goal this year is to quickly get into the first team. I want to,” he said, expressing his determination to leave the country.
Unlike Dong-ju Moon, who has been strictly managed since last year and raised as a starting resource by limiting pitching innings, Hanwha has a plan to let Kim Seo-hyun, who has healthy shoulders, experience the first team as a bullpen pitcher from the first year if she has good skills. This is why Kim Seo-hyun’s preparation for camp, which has a fast ball at the level of a high school student, is more important.
While conducting an interview with Moon Dong-ju, Kim Seo-hyun showed off his affinity enough to put his arm on the shoulder of his one-year brother, Moon Dong-ju. Moon Dong-joo advised Kim Seo-hyun, “I told her to do the same thing as when she was in high school. The environment is changing, but it becomes a better environment. It’s not that my skills are changing, so there’s nothing much different. I hope you don’t worry about getting hurt first.”
Moon Dong-joo and Kim Seo-hyun are resources that Hanwha is expecting so much that they will receive a down payment of 500 million won each. Moon Dong-ju pitched only 28⅔innings last year, so it is possible to compete for the Rookie of the Year title this year. Regarding this, Kim Seo-hyun said, “I’m not thinking about competing for the Rookie of the Year,” and conveyed her resolute mindset.