Yang Ji Damage NC came…’Second Yang Ji’ will take over the starting position
After avoiding Yang Ji, is there a Yang Ji successor?
The NC Dinos’ starting catcher may change beyond fall baseball.
NC’s ‘Gold Medal Catcher’ Kim Hyung-jun soared again. Kim Hyung-jun hit a crown jewel home run in the second game of the semi-playoffs against the SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 23rd. In the top of the eighth inning, with his team holding a slim 4-3 lead, Kim hit a solo shot off the hard-throwing Moon Seung-won. The home run spurred SSG on, but they gave up another run and fell 3-7.
Kim Hyung-jun emerged as the “new star” with a multi-hit performance in Game 1 of the wild-card decider against the Doosan Bears. He added a home run in the second game of the semifinals, paving the way for him to become a national star.
In fact, Kim Hyung-jun was not a well-known name to baseball fans before the Hangzhou Asian Games. He was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft. However, in 2019, NC added specialty catcher Yang Yang-ji as a free agent. He couldn’t afford to play as a starter, so he learned the game as a backup. When NC won the 2020 season, he didn’t play a game, but he gained valuable experience as a member of the Korean Series roster. He then served his military service in the commercial sector.
Upon his return, he stood out among the young catchers and was selected for the Asian Games. He was one of the main contributors to the team’s gold medal victory. In the high-pressure games that followed, Kim’s pitching performance only got better and better. He made a name for himself among baseball fans.
Catcher Kang Myung-hyun took advantage of the opportunity. He gave Kim a chance at the end of the season in place of Park Se-hyuk, who had a bad wrist. He entrusted the youngster, who had no experience in fall baseball, to play in the wild-card game. In that game, he outdueled his mentor, Yang Ji Hyun. 먹튀검증 He overcame Yang Ji’s lead and hit a multi-hit game to lead his team to victory. After the game, Yang Ji presented Kim with a bat to congratulate him. It was like a coronation for the big catcher.
At this rate, it’s very likely that Kim will be wearing the mask for the rest of NC’s fall baseball season. His pitching and defense are solid, and he’s got a lot of power coming off his big frame. In recent years, catchers can’t survive on defense alone. If Kim Hyung-jun continues to grow, we can expect the birth of the next Yang Ji Hyun.
NC lost Yang before the season, and instead brought in free agent catcher Park Se-hyuk from Doosan, where Yang went. They spent a whopping 4.6 billion won. Usually, when a team spends that much money, they tend to keep the player in the middle of the lineup. A player with a high price tag is usually good, and even if the investment is not worth it, a free agent has a high chance of starting.
However, there is no place for them in the professional world forever. If a better player comes along, they won’t be able to play. The winner is the one who seizes the opportunity when it comes. Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom), who is also trying to make it to the major leagues, was not a starter from the start of his debut season, but he took advantage of the opportunity given to him by Lim Byung-wook’s injury to showcase his tremendous hitting ability.
Kim Hyung-jun seems to have the potential to do the same. As for Park Se-hyuk, he came to the NC to avoid Yang Ji, and now he has a “second Yang Ji” waiting for him. He’ll have to sit tight.