Участник:"I'm curious about what it would be like to face him now."

Doosan won 5-3 in the first game of the season against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 9th. On the 6th and 7th, he successfully reversed the regret of consecutive losses to the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium.

Doosan fueled its pursuit with Park Joon-young's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning when the game was losing 1-3. After one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Huh Kyung-min got on base with a walk and put pinch runner Cho Seung-haeng on to pressure Hanwha's battery and infielders.

Doosan had Yang Eui-ji on base with a walk, putting an upset runner in front of Kim Jae-hwan, the fourth batter. Cho Soo-haeng relieved Kim Jae-hwan's burden by stealing third base in a surprise move.

Kim Jae-hwan swallowed his regret by hitting a double play against Hanwha starter Sanchez in the bottom of the first inning with one out and runners on first and third bases. He struck out his second at-bat in the bottom of the third inning and grounded his third at-bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.

However, Kim Jae-hwan broke his silence at a critical moment. In the bottom of the seventh inning, he hit a come-from-behind three-run homer off Hanwha left-handed fire bowler Kim Bum-soo with one out and runners at first and third bases.

Kim Jae-hwan hit Kim Bum-soo's second fastball of 148 kilometers at the one ball. He did not miss a mistake that was slightly driven from the outside to the center of the strike zone. He hit a three-run homer with a flying distance of 120 meters that flew over the left-center fence.

Kim Jae-hwan said in an interview with an official coach after the game, "Cho Su-haeng, who was a runner on second base before my home run, played a really big role. As Cho Su-haeng stole third base, the pressure disappeared at the thought that he could hit a fly (sacrifice)," adding, "I really want to say thank you to Cho. Thanks to Cho, I hit lightly led to good results."

He also expressed satisfaction, saying, "The part where the home run came out by pushing is hasty, but I think it will be an opportunity to gain a little more confidence," adding, "I think it's going in a good way for me because the direction of the hit is coming out evenly as (Lee Seung-yeop) said."

Kim Jae-hwan acquired his first career FA qualification after the 2021 season and signed a jackpot contract with Doosan for a four-year total of 11.5 billion won. Doosan judged that Kim Jae-hwan, the league's top slugger,'s current skills and leadership as a veteran player are essential elements of the team.

However, Kim Jae-hwan did not meet expectations with a batting average of 0.248 (111 hits in 448 times at bat) with 23 homers and 72 RBIs with a 0.800 OPS in 128 games in the 2022 season. In the 2023 season, he also had a batting average of 0.220 (89 hits in 405 times at bat) with 10 homers and 46 RBIs with a OPS of 0.674. Since he became the starting pitcher in 2016, he has received the worst report card in various ways, including the lowest batting average and failure to make a triple-digit hit.

Kim Jae-hwan has sweated a lot to revive the 2024 season. From late October to mid-November last year, he participated in the finishing camp held at Doosan's Icheon 2nd tier training center in Gyeonggi Province and underwent intensive training.

After finishing the camp, he spent his own money to cross the Pacific Ocean. He returned home after taking batting lessons from Kang Jung-ho, a former major leaguer who runs a baseball academy in the U.S.

Kim Jae-hwan's efforts have been shining since the beginning of the 2024 season. He got off to a fresh start with a batting average of 0.302 (16 hits in 53 times at bat) with four homers and 14 RBIs in 15 games since the opening of the regular season on April 23.

"Last year, I had difficulties in preparing for the spring camp as I underwent surgery during the preparation for the season. This year, I think the part that I took less rest and fully trained worked positively," Kim Jae-hwan said. "It is true that the team had a bad atmosphere (due to consecutive losses) in the away match against Lotte in Sajik last weekend. I'm glad that my home run today gave my team a good influence in its own way."

Kim Jae-hwan also expressed his expectations for a showdown with Ryu Hyun-jin, Hanwha's "Korean Monster" scheduled for the 11th. He will finally face Ryu, who has never played on the professional stage.

Kim Jae-hwan, born in 1988, started his professional career in 2008, a year later than his peers, as he was paid for a year due to an injury in high school. Ryu Hyun-jin, born in 1987, emerged as the best pitcher in Korea, winning the Rookie of the Year and MVP upon his KBO League debut in 2006.

Kim Jae-hwan had no chance to face Ryu until the 2012 season before he left for the Major League. He played 14 games in 2008, 30 games in 2011, and 13 games in 2012 in the main league, but was one of the incomplete prospects at the time. It was impossible to secure a place in the starting lineup against Ryu, the best left-hander in the league.

In Kim Jae-hwan's memory, the only showdown with Ryu Hyun-jin was when he was an amateur. Ryu Hyun-jin, a junior high school senior whom Kim Jae-hwan met when he was in his second year of middle school, was already a different player from the cotyledons.

Kim Jae-hwan said, "I also wonder what it would be like to play a game with Ryu. I played baseball in the same Incheon area for a year, but I couldn't play at bat when Ryu threw in high school (because I was a left-handed pitcher and a left-handed hitter)."

"I was attached to Ryu Hyun-jin when I was in my second year of middle school, and his curve was really good. He still throws curves well, but the curve trajectory that he threw at me at the time still remains clear in my head," he said. 토토사이트