Doosan Bears’ “Monster Rookie” Kim Taek-yeon caught the attention of fans with another powerful pitch. This time, he led the team to a draw along with escaping from the crisis of finishing defeat with a maximum of 151km/h fastball overcoming the crisis.

Doosan played against the Seibu Lions in the 2024 Kushun tournament at Sunmarin Stadium in Miyazaki, Japan, on February 27 and drew 4-4. 스포츠토토

Doosan placed Brandon on the mound as starting pitcher for the first time in camp on Wednesday. Kim Min-kyu, Kim Ho-joon, Choi Joon-ho, Baek Seung-woo, Choi Jong-in, Park Jung-soo, Park So-joon, Park Shin-ji, Kim Taek-yeon, Lee Byung-hun and Choi Ji-gang were on standby at the bullpen session.

Doosan faced Seibu starter Tyra with the starting batting order of Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Yang Seok-hwan (first baseman), Henry Ramos (right fielder), Yang Ji-ji (designated hitter), Kim In-tae (left fielder), Kang Seung-ho (second baseman), Jang Seung-hyun (puncher), and Park Joon-young (striker).

Doosan scored the first run. In the top of the second inning with one out and a walk by Ramos and Kim In-tae, Doosan led the game with Kang Seung-ho’s timely two-base hit in right field line. Then, with two outs and a timely two-base hit, Park Joon-young widened the gap to 3-0.

However, Doosan immediately faced a crisis in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on the first and third bases with one out and one out, Doosan recorded its first run after Brandon had a double in the left field line. Brandon allowed a tie after getting hit by a timely two-run single in the left-center field with runners on the second and third bases with two outs. Brandon, the starting pitcher, left the mound after two innings of three hits, two walks and three runs.

In the top of the fifth inning, Doosan scored a come-from-behind run thanks to Ramos’ throwing error when he grounded out to the second base. Second baseman Kim Dae-han made a bold home run on his opponent’s error play.

Doosan allowed the game to tie again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Doosan allowed its new pitcher, Baek Seung-woo, to steal the second base with one out and one on the first base after getting a hit as the leadoff hitter. Then, while giving up the game 4-4, following a timely hit to the right wing, Baek escaped the crisis with two outs and a runner on the third base to prevent his team from reversing the game.

Doosan chose Kim Taek-yeon as its last pitcher in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 4-4. Kim made his official debut at the Softbank Group 2 match on Feb. 24, signaling a good start by pitching one inning with no hit, three strikeouts and perfect pitching.

However, a crisis struck out Kim Taek-yeon on the day. Kim was in danger of finishing the first and third bases with one out after a leadoff batter’s error was allowed. Kim Taek-yeon led the rookie strikeout with a powerful fastball thrown low by the follow-up batter. Then, he swung and missed the last batter at the risk of second and third bases with two outs, and the game ended in a draw. Kim recorded a maximum speed of 151 km/h on the day.

“Since I was a finishing pitcher in my second year of high school, I have been taking the mound with the mindset that I can and should block my ball unconditionally,” Kim Taek-yeon told reporters after the game. It was the same today. I tried my best to block him somehow. As I was confident in my fastball, I agonized a bit when getting a hit. Still, I tried to secure the second out count and threw a low ball, but I felt good about strikeouts.”

Kim Taek-yeon was rather welcoming that the crisis came from the actual game. “I wanted to have a crisis like this in the actual camp,” Kim Taek-yeon said. Rather, I really wanted to experience it. It was a day of great experience. I was very satisfied to prevent it as a result in an important situation where it was a tie,” he said with a smile.

The Doosan bench put Kim Taek-yeon on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 4-4. The intention was to test Kim Taek-yeon at a critical juncture. As if to meet the bench’s expectations, Kim Taek-yeon turned a finishing crisis into a dramatic draw. Moreover, Kim’s desire to experience the crisis was a glimpse of Kim’s boldness. I wonder what kind of amazing balls Kim will show through the remaining camp games and exhibition games.