KIA Tigers left-hander Kwak Do-gyu (21) is one of the promising players that grew rapidly last year. Attention was focused on his teammate Kim Do-young (22), who won the MVP award during the regular season last year, but Kwak also showed great presence. In his second year as a professional, Kwak emerged as a must-winner for the first team last year, and displayed stellar performance in 71 games, four wins, two losses, two saves, 16 holds, 55 ⅔ innings, and an ERA of 3.56. He was the second-ranked hold in his team. He spent the best year of his career as he was selected to the "2024 WBSC Premier 12" national team and became the first Korean national team member.토토사이트

Kwak did not always stand out in the professional world from the beginning. After graduating from Gongji High School, he joined KIA in the fifth round of the 2023 Rookie Draft by ranking 42nd. In 2023, he only played 14 games, 11 ⅔ innings, and had an 8.49 ERA in the first division, which made him regrettable. His control was not consistent. He recorded 12 four outs while striking out 14.

"Actually, all coaches are like that, don't they? When I think a player is competitive, I want to help him establish himself in the first team to a certain extent, and I want to see him grow, and I hope so," KIA pitching coach Chung Jae-hoon said. "This was the case with (Kwak) Do-gyu. When I first saw him, I saw a lot of talented people, and I saw a lot of things that I could judge that I could do well in the first team bullpen," he said when he was a rookie.

How has Kwak Do-gyu changed since his debut season, which was full of disappointment? Coach Chung said, "I think he made good use of his opportunity. I think he took the opportunity well and did well last year. First of all, if you look at the 2023 record, the strike rate has dropped a little bit. However, last year, although the strike rate was not that overwhelmingly high, it seems that he was able to lead to a slightly advantageous ball count as the strike rate increased a lot compared to 2023. And it seems that the player's unique pitching form and the fact that he is a type of pitcher who is difficult to hit a little bit, both left and right-handed hitters. As the strike rate increased, the game turned out positively in the direction he wanted, so he gained confidence and I think he has done well for a year."

Kwak Do-gyu was a prospect who received 33 million won in annual salary last year. As he has established himself as a must-win group for the team last season, he is expected to raise his salary significantly. One concern arises here. If players themselves feel that their value has risen and start to feel pressure to do better, they can get twisted. This risk is great for low-age players such as Kwak Do-gyu.

Kwak Do-gyu is a player who researches a lot. Players like this should be wary of excessive attitude to correct or supplement their pitches just because they want to do better. Leaders usually say to younger players, "When it's good, it's better to leave it the way it is." While trying to supplement it, he lost his sense of good and wandered around for two to three years.

Coach Jung said, "Dogyu's style itself is a tendency to try something new and learn something new. I did well last year, but I don't think all of it is theirs yet. So I want to talk to Dogyu or order it, and I want to focus on raising the level of completion of some of the things I did well last year. For about two to three years until this year and next year, I will consistently do well with what I have and then say, 'Oh, I hope there's something like this. I think I need to supplement it because I'm a little lacking in this." He did not hide his anger, saying, "I'm worried because I'm the type to keep trying new things."

Coach Chung is giving such advice to Kwak because he is an essential player for his team as a left-handed must-win team in the next season. Closer Jung Hae-young (24), setup man Jeon Sang-hyun (29), and closer rival Cho Sang-woo (31), who was acquired in a trade this winter, must create synergy to boost Kwak's bid to win the title for the second consecutive year.

Coach Chung said, "Dogyu did well last year, but if he comes to the professional league and does well for a year and doesn't do well after that, it's not really a good thing. Since he has to play baseball for 10, 20 years, he ordered that the first thing to do is to sharpen his own things a little more completely. I will continue to ask such orders from Dogyu."