'Debut win' Kim Yoon-ha “I didn't expect my first win to be so fast

Kim Yoon-ha talks about her first win.

On July 25, the Kiwoom Heroes defeated the Doosan Bears in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Kiwoom won 6-1 in the ninth inning to snap a two-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep.

Rookie Kim Yoon-ha pitched seven scoreless innings on the mound to earn his first career win. Kim, who is more famously known as the nephew of “Korean Express” Park Chan-ho, finally earned his first win to make a name for himself. It came just three games after joining the starting lineup.

“It feels great,” Kim said, ”I honestly didn't think I could get my first win so quickly. I was hoping to do it within this season, but I'm glad it happened so quickly.”

Ki was selected by Kiwoom in the first round of last year's rookie draft and had high expectations as the “nephew of Park Chan-ho,” but he didn't make much of an impression in the professional ranks. He started the season in the bullpen, but posted an ERA of 11.42 in his first six games and was disappointing even after being sent to the second team. In his first game as a starter, he pitched five scoreless innings against NC, but then got hammered for six runs in 4.2 innings against NC again.

He started the season in the bullpen, so his innings pitched were not as good as they could have been. Before this game, he had pitched a maximum of five innings. However, with his seven innings of relief, he became the first rookie pitcher this year to achieve a Quality Start Plus.

Kim Yoon-ha said, “I wasn't greedy for a Quality Start Plus. I was lucky to be able to do it because my seniors helped me well and the batters scored well,” he said. ”Until now, I had a physical burden to go long innings, so I aimed to increase my stamina by throwing with all my strength from the beginning from my last appearance. As a result, I think my velocity didn't drop much even in the second half of the game today, and I'm satisfied with that.”

“My fastball didn't go in well in the first half, but in the second half, my fastball and 토토사이트 순위 changeup went in evenly, and I think that confused the opposing batters,” Kim added.

Kim came off the mound with a 3-0 lead that didn't look secure, and the game was in doubt when Doosan scored one run in the bottom of the eighth inning. “I was icing after I finished pitching and was surprised to see the score, but I was relieved to see senior Kim Sung-min on the mound,” Kim laughed. He had faith in his pitching staff.

Kiwoom quickly scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to make it 4-1, but the game was suddenly halted for 1 hour and 22 minutes due to a downpour of rain. With the first win on the line, it was easy to get impatient with the long delay, but Kim Yoon-ha said, “I didn't want it to end quickly, I just thought it was hard because I threw the most pitches in my life today. I didn't expect a rain delay because I knew I would win anyway when the game resumed,” she laughed.

There were improvements in the second team as they reorganized. “Originally, I was just looking at the center and throwing,” Kim said. But I kept getting hit in the first team, so I went down to the second team, and Coach Oh Ju-won said, 'It's hard to be a pro if you only throw to the center like that. The ball is good, but it can be hard if you only throw to the center,' so I practiced throwing to the borderline. I think I'm getting better results now,” he said.

Kim Yoon-ha added, “I think this result came about because my teammate (Kim Jae-hyun) guided me the best. Coach Lee Seung-ho always thinks of me more than myself. He caught my problems faster and told me about them so I could improve. My roommate, Young-min (Ha), also teaches me a lot in the room. I'm grateful,” he said of his first win.

With her first professional victory under her belt, Kim Yoon-ha has now taken the first step. “I want to be the kind of starting pitcher that everyone thinks of when they think of Heroes,” Kim said.