Kim Ha-sung → Lee Jung-hoo → The Heroes, who are not shaken even if Kim Hye-sung leaves, even in their second year, said, "If we don't care, we can play."
Kim Ha-sung → Lee Jung-hoo → The Heroes, who are not shaken even if Kim Hye-sung leaves, even in their second year, said, "If we don't care, we can play."
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The Kiwoom Heroes, dubbed the Major League Baseball`s military academy, is about to release their fifth big leaguer. Kim Hye-sung (26), the captain of the Korean national team and the captain of the Heroes, is the main character.토토사이트
With the posting closing at 7 a.m. Korean time on January 4, Kim Hye-sung's U.S. agency CAA Sports is in last-minute negotiations with at least three teams. If the contract is dramatically signed, it will be the fifth after Kang Jung-ho (38, retired), Park Byung-ho (39, Samsung Lions), Kim Ha-sung (30, FA) and Lee Jung-hoo (27, San Francisco Giants).
By sending players to the Major League on a regular basis, Kiwoom has become a team that envies talented young players. On the other hand, there are voices of concern. As the Heroes' iconic players continue to leave, the team's morale will be lowered, and as there are many young players, it will be shaken.
However, the atmosphere was quite different from that of the players who had been to the Heroes' Rookie Camp held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan since the end of the last season. The 2024 Heroes' Rookie Camp, which was similar to the closing camp of other teams, had an average age of just 19.2 years, as 28 younger players including rookies participated in the camp in 2025. It was intentionally composed of players. The camp focused on preventing excessive competition by making players of the same age mingle with each other, and on developing routines and physical stamina to play full-time as professional players through training programs tailored to the time of the first team.
The result was satisfactory. Although the best players were Kim Geon-hee (21, 1R No. 6) and Park Sung-bin (21, 7R, 2023) in 2023, young players have adapted to the new atmosphere. Notably, the camp had 15 pitchers, and the leadership of rookie Kim Yoon-ha (20, 1R No. 9) in 2024) was highlighted last year. Kiwoom left Kim Yoon-ha as a roommate with No. 1 Jung Hyun-woo (19), the first player in the first round of the 2025 rookie draft. According to Kiwoom team officials, Chung also adapted well thanks to Kim Yoon-ha, who is smart.
Kim Yoon-ha, whom I met at Kiwoom Charity Cafe last month, said, "I'm just doing what I received from my brothers to my juniors. We've had seniors so far, so we set the tone if we do something wrong, but we were the best in this rookie camp for the second year except for (Kim) Gun-hee and (Park) Sung-bin," adding, "If we don't focus in such a situation, the atmosphere becomes a game to play completely. I didn't go to play, so I paid more attention when exercising than usual."
He added, "Jang Jae-young, (Kim) Gun-hee, and (Ha) Young-min were good at that. He said clearly what you have to keep, but he said well in the background so that you wouldn't be offended. I saw and learned a lot from that, so I set the tone a little at the training site this camp and played comfortably when I went to the accommodation."
Kim's interview, which he said he learned from his older brothers, resembled those of his predecessors, including Park Byung-ho, Kim Ha-sung, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-sung, and Song Sung-moon. Thanks to the atmosphere created by Lee Taek-geun (45), SBS Sports commentator, and Yoo Han-joon (44), KT Wiz's batting coach, the Heroes were able to show steady performance despite successive departures of their main players. The team culture of freely talking about baseball regardless of senior or junior, age or nationality has laid the foundation for the re-establishment of the Major League Military Academy.
This is why baseball officials expect Kiwoom to rebound despite the continued absence of key players and poor performance in recent months. A Major League scout told Star News that "Kium has brought a lot of good players recently. It seems that it plans to strengthen its foundation through fostering for the time being and seek to advance to the next round. It is a team that can never be ignored."