“I want to play a role as a bridge to advance into fall baseball.”
LG→NC→Samsung→KIA. KIA catcher Kim Tae-gun has changed his uniform four times since his professional debut. Born in Busan, Kim Tae-gun joined Seoul-based LG with the 17th overall pick in the 2008 rookie draft after graduating from Busan High School. After the 2012 season, he moved the team to NC after receiving a special nomination for the new team. After that, he took the position of the main catcher, but as NC recruited the league’s best catcher Yang Eui-ji as a free agent (FA) in 2019, his position in the team narrowed, and he wore a Samsung uniform as a trade after the 2021 season. And on the 5th, Samsung and KIA traded one-to-one, wearing the 4th professional team uniform.
Kim Tae-gun was a backup catcher at Samsung, but he has excellent defensive skills enough to be selected for the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. Last year, he played 102 games for Samsung and recorded his highest batting average of 0.298 since his debut. In addition, he has a lot of fall baseball experience, and his fighting play and bright expression always energize his team. This is why KIA brought Kim Tae-gun.
A good start at KIA. Kim Tae-gun was included in the starting lineup as the 8th catcher in the SSG match at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 6th. Coincidentally, the selection on this day was Yang Hyeon-jong, the ‘great pitcher’ who is ranked first in active wins. We didn’t have enough time to get along with each other, but it didn’t matter too much. Like a veteran, Kim Tae-gun led senior Yang Hyeon-jong and collaborated with 5 innings and 1 run. Yang Hyeon-jong took the win that day and increased his personal career multiplier to 164 wins. After the game, Yang Hyeon-jong said, “(Kim) Tae-goon is a good catcher. Tae-gun has a lot of experience, so he led me well.” Kim Tae-gun also performed like Altoran at bat. Kim Tae-gun played an active part with 2 hits, 2 RBIs and 1 point in 4 at-bats, including 1 RBI and 2 doubles in the final.
He has good team and external compatibility. KIA’s team color is red. Kim Tae-goon also loves red items. Even at Samsung, where blue is the symbol, he stuck to red stockings. Kim Tae-gun said, “I really liked the color red, and I saw myself wearing a KIA uniform yesterday, and it wasn’t awkward.” He explained, “The year I gave birth to my first child was the ‘year of the red monkey,’ so I wore red from then on.”메이저사이트
If Kim Tae-gun finishes this season normally, he will be eligible for the second professional free agent (FA). During the first free agency of the 2019 season, Kim Tae-gun suffered from difficulties in negotiations with the original team NC as the transfer market shrank significantly at the time, and remained at a bargain price of 1.3 billion won in total for 4 years. But he is different this year. In the recent free agent market, the catcher is ‘gold price’. Seven out of 10 KBO league teams this year made more than 4 billion won when signing free agent contracts.
Kim Tae-gun wears a catcher mask for the rest of the season at KIA. Because he has no worthy competitor on the team. As of the 6th, if you lead KIA’s fall baseball trip, which has fallen to 8th place (32 wins, 1 draw, 38 losses), you can further increase your stock price. Kim Tae-gun said, “I was misunderstood a lot when I first became a free agent. I hope to have good results when I become a free agent for the second time. That is the wish of my baseball life.” I feel the responsibility to do it,” he said, “if I overcome the pressure, I think good grades will follow. I want to serve as a bridge for the team to advance to fall baseball.”