Kiwoom Heroes shortstop Kim Hui-jip (21) is steadily growing under the club’s grand plan. The direction was taken in a different way from the role model Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres).
After graduating from Daechi Middle School and Shinil High School, Kim Hwi-jip, who started baseball at the Heroes Little Baseball Team, was nominated by Kiwoom with the 8th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2021 rookie draft and began walking the path of a shortstop for Seonggol. Having received a chance in the first team from his first year as a pro, he is drawing an upward trend in both offense and defense. This year, the 3rd year of his debut, he is recording a batting average of 0.259 in 56 games, 3 homers, 16 RBIs, 18 points, an on-base percentage of 0.352 and a slugging percentage of 0.379. OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.731 is 17th among all infielders in the KBO League this year, and those under the age of 25 are Noh Si-hwan (23, Hanwha), Kim Hye-seong (24, Kiwoom), Moon Bo-kyung (23, LG), and Kim Ji-chan (22, 22-year-old). Samsung) only.먹튀검증
When asked by reporters what kind of player Kim Hwi-jip is likely to grow ahead of the Gocheok KIA match on the 14th, Kiwoom Hong Won-ki (50), coach Hong Won-ki (50), said, “He is a player with one-hit power. If he grows up, I think he will grow very big as a next-generation shortstop or infielder.”
Since his days at Shinil High School, long hitting power has been Kim’s greatest attraction, but evaluations of shortstop defense have been mixed. Due to his slow feet, the range of defense is narrow and his shoulder can barely see third base, and in the pro, it was expected that he would settle for a second or third baseman rather than a shortstop. Considering that he showed below-league average defense with 14 errors as the starting shortstop last year, it was difficult to criticize him for his high school days.
However, Kim Hui-jip is still playing as a shortstop this year. Even with the arrival of major league shortstop Edison Russell (29), he is steadily taking chances as a backup with 41 games (286⅓ innings) at third base and 21 games (141 innings) at shortstop.