Kim Taek-yeon, 20, of the Doosan Bears was the brightest star in professional baseball last year. It was spectacular. She also received the Rookie of the Year award with 92 percent of the vote.먹튀검증

He made 19 saves in his first year as a rookie with a high school diploma in Korean pro baseball. Starting with his first save of the season against the SSG Landers on May 21, he became the youngest ever to make 10 saves and save against all teams. He had the lowest ERA of 2.08 among relievers, and seven tough saves were the most in the league to keep his lead when there was a tie or a come-from-behind runner.

Originally, he started off as a mid-game skirmish. However, as the main closing pitcher was sluggish, he was given a desperate measure to post Jeong Cheol-won, but the result was amazing. It was a spectacular sight to see him return the best hitters in the league with four-seam fastballs with speeds of up to 155 kilometers per hour and an average of 148 kilometers per hour. It was the only comfort for Doosan fans who sat down at the wild card in 2024 following 2023. "It still feels like a dream. My goal was to establish myself in the first team without getting injured, but I didn't expect that I would be so good," said Kim Taek-yeon. The annual salary, which was 30 million won last year, jumped to 140 million won this year.

"There was a game where I had three strikeouts against KT, and that's when I caused a crisis and blocked it. After that game, I was able to gain confidence. Of course, there were many disappointing moments. On days when I couldn't throw, I felt what I lacked and tried not to repeat the same mistake. That's how I learned every game. People worry about my jinx in my second year this year, but I don't believe it. Even if there are moments when I can't do it, I think I'm not good enough and I will prepare well so that the period doesn't get longer."

Kim Taek-yeon's main weapon is a fastball. His good vertical movement prevents him from falling until he hits the catcher's mitt, and his RPM per minute is as high as 2,400-2500 and 2,800 on average, making it hard for batters to hit the ball. He said he made efforts to be told that he is the best when it comes to fastballs since he was a junior high school student who had difficulty in playing breaking balls properly.

"Since I was young, I've watched many pitchers who have good points in their fastballs. I was curious about what they have in common. And I'm still curious. How can I throw my fastballs better? I think I still have a long way to go."

Kim Taek-yeon picked Major League pitchers such as the Atlanta Braves' Spencer Strider and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto as her role models. Both of them are not physically large but rather strike out frequently through fastballs. The rate of fastball hitting exceeds 60 percent. Striders are flexible, and Yamamoto's strength is strong pitching.

In this year's spring camp, he is intensively adjusting his splitter. He mostly dealt with batters with two types of fastballs and sliders, but he was somewhat weak against left-handed hitters last year. His batting average against right-handed hitters was 0.177, while that against left-handed hitters was 0.259. His strikeout rate against left-handed hitters was also relatively lower than that against right-handed hitters, and he allowed more walks. During the last season, he reportedly realized the need for reverse rotation balls against left-handed hitters. Of course, his main weapon is his fastball. The splitter is his auxiliary weapon to make his fastball power stand out.

Doosan's first to third starting pitchers this year, which will lead to Cole Irvin, Jack Rogue, and Kwak Bin, are among the best in the league. On the other hand, the bullpen has weakened. Jung Cheol-won moved to Lotte and Kim Kang-ryul moved to LG. It will take more load. That's why Kim Taek-yeon's shoulder has become heavier. This year, he left his parents' house in Incheon and got a house near the baseball field to focus more on baseball.

"If I can win, I think I wouldn't mind throwing 80 innings. Watching the last game of the Korean Series between KIA and Samsung last year, it looked fun. I wondered what it would have been like to have our team on that stage. It was a shame last season that the autumn baseball period was too short. Having experienced it once, I want to go higher this year."

"My goal for this season is 'King of Salvation,'" an individual title, but that includes my aspiration to win the title. A team can become the king of Salvation only when it wins more games. Last year's title of Salvation was won by Kia Tigers' Jung Hae-young (31 saves). Kim Taek-yeon finished the game in May and ranked eighth in this category with 19 saves for this season.

Kim Taek-yeon, who made her name as the best starting pitcher in high school, has a dream of succeeding as a starting pitcher if she can.