You blew the 1R nomination in a trade? For someone, it was a special opportunity, "Honestly, it was better."

You blew the 1R nomination in a trade? For someone, it was a special opportunity, "Honestly, it was better."

Blog Article

The NC Dinos failed to use the first and third round picks at the 2025 Rookie Draft held last year. It was due to trade. In May, the team acquired infielder Kim Hui-jip through a trade with the Kiwoom Heroes, and yielded two rookie picks for the 2025 season (the first and third rounds). It was a choice to strengthen the infield defense and batters.

As a result, the team became the most leisurely nonetheless in the early days of the rookie draft. If the team could have used the first-round pick, it would have been able to nominate another rookie pitcher. In the first and third rounds, Kiwoom picked Kim Seo-joon, a Chung Hoon High School pitcher, and Yeo Dong-wook, a Daegu Sangwon infielder, respectively.스포츠토토

However, the NC Dinosaurs named right-hander Kim Tae-hoon in the second round, which became their top pick. "Our draft principle is to pick the best player among the remaining players," NC Dinosaurs' general manager Lim Sun-nam said at the time of the nomination. "We are glad to have picked Kim Tae-hoon as our turn. We highly evaluated Kim's healthy arms and strong pitching, and even when analyzing data, his fastball rotation was among the best based on KBO standards. The vertical movement of the ball is also very good."

Kim Tae-hoon is currently starting training to prepare for the first season with his classmates and seniors at Masan Stadium in Changwon. Through systematic training, he is properly experiencing taste of professional baseball. "It was amazing to meet senior players that I've only seen on TV. It was amazing to meet them at a restaurant for the first time. I couldn't take my eyes off of them because they were so cool," Kim said with a shy smile as if he were a rookie.

The top-round pick was expected, but unexpectedly, he was not invited to the site of the rookie draft. The invitation was selected by KBO through the opinions of scouts, but Kim Tae-hoon was excluded. Kim Tae-hoon said, "I was not invited. Everyone asked me, 'Why aren't you going?' and I kept checking my text messages, but I didn't hear back. I just watched the broadcast on TV with my friends, and I was really surprised. To be honest, I didn't think I would be selected in the second round. I thought I'd look forward to it from the third round, but I was surprised to be called in the second round and felt very good," he said, looking back on that time.

With no first-round nominees, Kim Tae-hoon became the top-ranked nominee among NC rookies. "That's why I honestly liked it better. It was an honor because it was my first time, and I liked it because it was NC, not another team," he said with a smile. Since he was born in Incheon, he grew up watching the SK Wyverns, and since he was a fielder, he dreamed of becoming a professional player while looking at Choi Jeong, the "home run king."

The background of the change from fielder to pitcher was "storm growth." Since his father was a volleyball player and his mother was a basketball player, he inherited the blood of an athlete. He was 1m72 until the third grade of middle school, but he grew up to 1m90 when he graduated from high school. As he went to high school, he grew up nonstop every month to the extent that he had knee growth pain.

After transferring to Sorae High School, he improved his pitching capabilities as well. In August of his second year of high school, his ball speed increased to 140 kilometers, and he marked 147 kilometers in the second half of this season. As he gained confidence, he began to enjoy playing baseball. He also worked out harder. When he physicalized, his maximum ball speed increased from 148 kilometers to 154 kilometers.

Kim Tae-hoon, who said, "I think the strength is that the speed is fast and the ball is strong," appealed, "I'm confident in powerful sliders."

I can't participate in the first-team spring camp, but I have plenty of opportunities. Kim Tae-hoon also expressed his determination ahead of his debut season, saying, "I want to make a good body that will not get injured from the second-tier team without thinking in a hurry, and I want to debut in the first-tier team by taking steps step by step." "I think I should show my true value when I get the opportunity to take the mound in front of the first-tier coach. Since I am a rookie, my goal is to finish without injury, and if I have a chance, I would like to take the first-tier stage this year."