He proved the faith of Kiwoom Heroes general manager Ko Hyung-wook 52 from his first appearance. Kim Dong-kyu (19), who changed from a striped uniform to a burgundy uniform in a year, got off to a good start by taking advantage of his strengths. 토토
Kim Dong-kyu started the game against the SSG Landers Futures team at Uiam Baseball Stadium in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do on the 4th and recorded four hits, one walk, and three strikeouts in five innings.
Ha Young-min failed to become a winning pitcher with two runs in the sixth inning, but he pitched without losing a point against the SSG Futures team’s batters, which included Han Yu-seom and Jeon Ui-san. In the second and third innings, runners were sent out, but they did not lose a point by striking out and double plays. In the first and fourth innings, he pulled out the three-way retirement, and in the fourth inning, he succeeded in managing the number of pitches by turning Han Yu-seom and Jeon Ui-san into a fly ball in just eight pitches.
Kim Dong-kyu, who is 195 centimeters tall and weighs 100 kilograms, joined LG as 17 times in the second round of the 2023 rookie draft after graduating from Seongnam High School. Although he was evaluated as a tall, flexible right-hander who throws powerful balls using hardware, his presence was not noticeable in a thick pool of LG prospects.
It was on the 29th of last month that he received attention. Kiwoom has been nominated for the first round of the 2024 Rookie Draft with Kim Dong-kyu and Lee Ju-hyung by sending franchise star Choi Won-tae 26, who has been raised for eight years, to LG. Most of the attention was focused on Lee Ju-hyung, who has a career batting average of .300 for Futures, but also on Kim Dong-kyu, who was selected as a candidate to replace Choi Won-tae.
General manager Ko Hyung-wook said, “Kim Dong-kyu is a player with really excellent physical conditions and uses a heavy fastball of up to 148 kilometers per hour in high RBIs from his tall height. We were also thinking of nominating him during the last rookie draft, but I felt better when I went to LG, he said, I will take the mound as a middle pitcher right now, but I thought I could start in the future. The ball is really good,” he said, expressing satisfaction.
In fact, Kim Dong-kyu is a player who has consistently played the starting rotation in LG. Except for the match against the Armed Forces Sports Unit Sangmu on the 28th of last month, he was tested for his potential as a member of the solid LG Futures starting rotation. Even the match against Sangmu, the only relief pitcher, became a winning pitcher by playing many innings without losing a point in four innings.
On the day of his debut in Kiwoom, Kim Dong-kyu threw 51 fastball balls out of 67 pitches 76% and played with a high speed of 147 kilometers per hour. Curves near 120km, 137km sliders, and forks early 130km supported the fastball.
With 38 strikes and 29 balls, close to 1:1 control remained a homework. However, he showed his potential as a right-handed fireballer by steadily spraying more than 140 kilometers of balls, with the lowest fastball speed of 139 kilometers per hour.
