"I think I have to do well to get the team's results."
Kim Kwang-hyun (SSG Landers) left for the U.S. via Incheon International Airport on Saturday. SSG will hold its first spring camp at Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida, starting on March 30. Kim Kwang-hyun will move to the starting lineup with coach Lee Sung-yong, senior coach Jeon Su-young, training coach Ko Yoon-hyung, training coach Song Jae-hwan, Oh Won-seok, Choi Min-joon, Choi Jung, Kim Sung-hyun, Oh Tae-gon, Park Sung-han and Han Yu-seom to adjust to the local area.
Kim held a mini camp in Okinawa, Japan from the 3rd to the 21st. Oh Won-seok, Lee Ki-soon, and Baek Seung-gun, who also participated in last season, accompanied them this year, and Shin Heon-min and Lee Ki-soon also joined them. Training coach Yoo Jae-min also flew by and helped train the players.
Kim Kwang-hyun is very satisfied with the mini camp. "When I went to Okinawa this time, it only rained once. On a day when I didn't exercise, it rained on a resting day. I came back after exercising well," he said. "Last year, I really wanted the year to go fast. I wasn't feeling well and a lot of bad things happened. Since my team finished third and never won the postseason, I think it was a bad year both for the team and for me personally," he said.
"You did a great job. You guys worked so hard. You guys were so good at adapting to me and giving me exercise," said Yoo Jae-min, coach of the training team who joined the team. "I was good at copying him and my juniors were good at copying him. That's why I did a great job. I made him so that he wouldn't get hurt when throwing the ball in the U.S. I think it would be perfect if I went to the U.S. right now to exercise."
Manager Lee gave Kim a new mission this season. He made him plan his own training schedule. "The manager told me to plan my schedule. He told me to plan my schedule from pitching to exhibition games to season opening games," Kim said. "I don't know what the rotation will be like in the opening game, but I have planned when I start both pitching and bullpen pitching, when I start as the first starter, when I start as the third starter, and when I start as the fifth starter. I think I need to discuss with the manager again which one will be right."
Kim pitched in 30 games last season with nine wins, eight losses, and a 3.53 ERA with 119 strikeouts with 72 strikeouts in 168 ⅓ innings. He had double-digit wins for seven consecutive seasons from the 2013 season to the 2022 season (out of Tommy John surgery season in 2017, advance to the Major League in 2020 and 2021 seasons), but failed to continue his streak in the 2023 season. He thinks that his team's performance will improve only when he rebounds this season.
"I've been like that since I joined the SSG in the beginning, but I've got good results when a pitcher does well. All my performances depend on pitchers, and among those pitchers, I think I can get good results when I do well. If I do better than average, I think I'll be able to win," Kim said. "Of course, I'm thinking of finishing in the top five. If I do better, I'm even thinking of winning."
Kim Kwang-hyun's goal for this season is to carry out the duties given by coach Lee Sung-yong without any difficulties. "I don't have a goal. My first goal is to keep track of my schedule and tell me to try how to rotate the season," he said. "So far, my coach or coach has notified me, but I have to do well because I make my own plans."
He continued, "It's also burdensome. I did what I was told to do, but now it's very difficult for me to match my schedule," and added, "I'm burdened, but I'll do my best because I'm a professional."
2024 is the year of the Blue Dragon. Kim Kwang-hyun, born in 1988, is the year of the dragon. It is his second year of the dragon since joining the professional league. "It is my second year of the dragon since joining the pro league. Time seems to fly. It feels like yesterday when I was the youngest member of the team and lived as the youngest for six to seven years, but I am already 36 years old," he said. "I think time flies. I feel the same even more when I see young people. That's why I am thinking, "Let's do as much as I have done now. Let's do it for a long time." "Let's meet next year of the dragon as well," he said. 토토사이트넷