There’s a reason San Diego’s Kim Hae-sung has been touted as the “post-Kim Hae-sung. South Korean national team captain Kim Hye-sung, 24, expressed his desire to play in the major leagues, saying, “I want to improve my skills and go to the United States.”
When asked at the official press conference for his Gold Glove award at the Rivera Hotel in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, on Nov. 20, Kim didn’t hesitate to name Kiwoom’s Kim Hye-sung.
“I think Kim Hae-sung will be the next candidate (to make it to the Major Leagues). I watched the APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship) and I thought she was different from players her age,” he said. “I think she will be a better player than me if she grows up well. She is so sincere and has a great passion for baseball. I think Kim Hye-sung might be the next player to come to the major leagues, and she seems to have major league aspirations herself. 먹튀검증토토사이트 I know that she will be posting next year, but I want to see her play in the major leagues.”
Kim Hae-sung is the next major leaguer
Kim Hae-sung became a professional player in 2017 with the 7th pick of the second round of the Nexen secondary draft after graduating from Dongsango. In his first-team career, Kim batted .877 with 26 home runs, 311 RBIs, 181 doubles and 501 runs scored in 826 games, and in his seventh year, he batted .335 with seven home runs, 57 RBIs and 25 doubles in 137 games, posting career-highs in both the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, the Hangzhou Asian Games in September and the APBC in November. He served as a captain at the Asian Games and APBC, which are age-group tournaments. Kim also became the first KBO player to win a Golden Glove as a shortstop in 2021 and a second baseman in 2022.
After returning from the APBC with a runner-up finish, Kim met with reporters at the Gimpo Airport International Terminal on the afternoon of the 20th to express his gratitude to Kim Ha-sung. “I think he told me because we were from the same team, and he’s usually a serious guy. Please tell him thank you,” she smiled. Kim Hye-sung and Kim Ha-seong played together for four years, from the time she joined the team in 2017 to 2020, the year before Kim’s big league debut.
Kim’s success in the big leagues inspired her to pursue her dream of playing in the United States.
“I admire him because he won the Gold Glove on such a big stage, and I’m also envious of him,” Kim said. “He mentioned me to his brother, and I want to go and do well to prove that he wasn’t wrong. I definitely want to go to the U.S., and I want to improve my skills and go to the U.S. like his brother and (Lee) Jung-hoo.” Kim revealed his ultimate goal.
At the press conference, Kim Ha Sung said, “I usually get a lot of calls from Kim Hye Sung. She seems to have a lot of questions,” he said, adding, “I feel like Ha Sung talks too much about baseball to his brother,” and “I usually ask him about all kinds of problems related to hitting and defense, so I think it’s a little hard for him. I think he thinks I’m not interesting because I ask him too much about baseball,” he added.
“It’s natural that you have to be good at baseball to go to the major leagues,” Kim Ha Sung said, “I wish I had learned English when I was younger. Communication is so important. I never thought I would go to the major leagues, so I didn’t study English at all, and I’m still struggling. If you have a dream, prepare in advance, it will help you live even if it’s not baseball.” She also emphasized the importance of learning English for players who dream of playing in the big leagues.
So how good is Kim’s English? “I’m not good at it. But I study a little bit,” and “(Lee) Jung-hoo is better than me. I’m still in the beginning stages,” she said and laughed.
