Kim Tae-gun escaped the plant catcher, and Han Jun-su grew up in a storm...KIA's 31-year-old prospective FA catcher breakthrough? Irvine is a land of crisis and opportunity
Kim Tae-gun escaped the plant catcher, and Han Jun-su grew up in a storm...KIA's 31-year-old prospective FA catcher breakthrough? Irvine is a land of crisis and opportunity
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Kim Tae-gun escaped from a plant catcher. Han Jun-su grew up a lot. Then, what will happen to his third catcher, Han Seung-taek (31).
The home turf of the KIA Tigers is so good that when I think of two to three years ago, I think of the word "hell on top of each other." Kim Tae-gun, who joined the team through a trade in July 2023, quickly permeated the team. Few players are not scolded by him. He knew exactly what the professional had to go and what the team had to do to win. The Kim Tae-gun effect has already dug into areas that cannot be quantified. In addition, starting with the grand slam in Game 3 of the Korean Series, the turning point has come to the batting.
Han Jun-su was Kia's best hit product in the 2023 season. Since he was a full-time coach, he made his name known by being hired occasionally, and spent the best season with manager Lee Bum-ho. He was a thorough backup in the Korean Series, but in the regular season, he had a slightly higher weight than Kim Tae-gun. Hitting with a single stroke is very attractive. He is showing signs of enhancing his batting perfection by banking on his bold open stand. Analysts say that if he gains more experience in defense and game management, he will be inferior to post-Kim Tae-gun.
Currently, KIA has two players, Kim Tae-gun and Han Jun-su. However, three catchers are training at Irvine Spring Camp. He is Han Seung-taek, 31, who has long been a defensive catcher. Han is good at defense and has the strongest shoulder among catchers in his team. He joined the Korean Series because of his shoulder.
However, Han actually had zero playing time in the Korean Series. Han Jun-su played as a backup for even one game, but Han didn't even have that opportunity. It was humiliating, but he had to accept it. Lee Bum-ho intentionally gave Kim a boost, but he is also the current state of KIA's home turf.
Han is expected to become a free agent after the end of this season. He has completed six seasons for more than 145 days, and seven more seasons are left when the number of registered days for the rest of the season and the number of bonus days he received as runner-up at the 2017 Asian Baseball Championship are added. Even if there are not many registered days for the first team this year, Han is highly likely to become a free agent.
Failure to find a breakthrough in the first division could adversely affect value formation in the FA market again this season. Therefore, this season is very important to Han. With the opening of the ABS era, defensive hitters are not as attractive as they used to be. Eventually, he needs to make a breakthrough in his overall batting average of 0.207.
He was included in the Irvine Spring Camp list. For Han, it is a crisis and an opportunity. This is the last time that he can be impressed by coach Lee Bum-ho. It is not easy for a backup player who failed to make an impact in the spring camp and exhibition games to suddenly seize an opportunity during the season 먹튀검증. Of course, Kia has strong first-team depth.
From the team's point of view, it is sure to be an important card. This is because it is the best card for Kim Tae-gun and Han Jun-su's injuries and sluggishness. Young backup catcher such as Lee Sang-joon are not yet easy to suddenly support the main catcher in the first team. Therefore, head coach Lee Bum-ho may have his own clear purpose of taking Han Seung-taek to Irvine. Even to the FA, Han Seung-taek's watch of fate began to turn.