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"Kim Bum-suk (20) will no longer wear a catcher's mask," LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said ahead of the match against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on Wednesday. He believes that he still lacks good teamwork with pitchers. He also decided not to attach the mask to foreign pitchers Casey Kelly and Detrick N.S. At a time when Kelly and N.S. have to fight for survival due to sluggish performance in the early days of the season, he judged that it would not be right to let them play with Kim. Kelly has one win and six losses, 56 ⅔ innings, 5.72 ERA, and N.S. has struggled with four wins and two losses, 52 innings and 5.37 ERA in 10 games.
"If foreign pitchers have time, I can push them," Yeom said. Originally, he tried to push (Kim) Beom-seok with all foreign pitchers. Anyway, foreign pitchers are not in a good situation. If the two pitchers are leading the team, it would be okay to use Beom-seok, but they are also making the catcher play with their care when they are not on pace. I don't think it's polite to foreign pitchers to do as I insist."
"In the course of the season, saving foreign pitchers is much more important than raising Bum-suk. That's why I made a concession and changed my mind. If foreign pitchers were successful, I would have used Kim Bum-suk as catcher 100 percent," he added.
Head coach Yeom put Kim Bum-suk first as a replacement when his home turf, Park Dong-won, was on the injured list due to a knee injury on the 13th. He drew Kim Bum-suk as the main catcher and veteran Heo Do-hwan as a backup. I wanted to see if there was a possibility that Kim Bum-suk, a promising catcher, could work in the first division as a catcher, and there was also a calculation that he could grow the future of LG's home turf only when he gained experience in the first division.
Immediately after Park's departure due to injury, Yeom said, "It is an opportunity for Bum-suk to grow tremendously. If I have to use someone anyway, I will use Bum-suk boldly as I think it will help the team as well," adding, "The throwing was not as bad as I thought." Blocking was also good as expected. One of the conditions under which a catcher grows fast is his quickness, and he highly appreciates his quickness to cope with the situation. If Bum-suk takes this opportunity, the depth of his backup catcher could become thicker. The conditions under which he can use the entry to the other side will also be created. I think it will be a great experience for him to grow as each game goes on, and it will be helpful to him."
However, players as young as 20 years old were not experienced enough to lead pitchers, and foreign pitchers could not afford to lead Kim Bum-suk. He had no choice but to use his own expression to break his stubbornness.
The plan to foster a catcher failed, but Kim Bum-suk, a "genius hitter," will continue to utilize the bat. In 27 games this season, Kim has a batting average of 0.325 (27 hits in 83 times at bat), five homers, 19 RBIs and a 0.928 OPS. Kim was also the batter who lost his only hit to opponent team starter Moon Dong-ju at the match against Hanwha in Daejeon on Tuesday. With two outs in the fourth inning, Kim swung Moon's third pitch, a two-seam fastball, to lead the batter to a left-handed hit.
Regarding giving up a hit to Kim, Moon said, "He hit well. I agree. I think (the ball) went well toward my body. I wanted to throw deeper into my body, but I still fell in love with him. I played well. I threw my two balls, but I think it went a little flat."
By using Kim Bum-suk as the first baseman or designated hitter, Yeom plans to arrange the physical strength of Kim Hyun-soo, who has recently shown signs of a batting slump.
"Bum-seok is not in a bad condition. Bum-seok has better batting performance than (Kim) Hyun-soo now," Yeom said while giving Kim a break on Monday. "Bum-seok has better batting performance than (Kim) Hyun-soo now. Hyun-soo has less batting performance right now, so it is better to take a quick break in such a situation. He has symptoms before a slump occurs. There are more grounders to the second base and more grounders to the first base. In a good situation, a hit should be made to the left field and a long hit to the center field, but now he is covering it up as the left side wall collapses," he said, predicting that Kim will have more chances until Kim recovers his batting performance.
Park Dong-won, the mastermind of the home team, will check the game at the Futures League by Friday and will join the team in Daejeon, where he will play the last three consecutive games against the Hanwha Eagles on Saturday, if he finishes the 10 days, which is the period when he can register for the first team. Until Park returns, Heo will take charge of the home game. With LG in the mid-range battle, it will be difficult to see catcher Kim Bum-suk again soon.
BY: 스포츠토토핫