*This content was translated by AI.
He became the nation's best shortstop by winning the Golden Glove and KBO Defense Award for the first time in his life, but Kim Joo-won (24, NC Dinos) became a valuable body in Korean baseball, where it is difficult to find a replacement.
Kim Joo-won met with reporters ahead of his departure from the 1st spring camp in Arizona, USA, through Incheon International Airport on the 24th and said, "At first, I didn't think I would play as a main player until Saipan, and I thought let's prepare steadily," adding, "But with the situation like that, I'm determined."
Kim Joo-won, who went to the first camp of Saipan, the national baseball team, in preparation for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March from the 9th to the 21st, recently became the national team's number one shortstop resource due to Kim Ha-sung's finger injury.
Kim Joo-won was the only professional shortstop on the national team's roster. Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers) may be in charge of shortstop, but in that case, Kim Joo-won is most likely to form a keystone with Kim Hye-sung.
Of course, the possibility of selecting additional shortstop cannot be ruled out. Kim Joo-won also stays alert. Even so, there is no guarantee that I will be the main player right away. I have to do well and get it, so I will prepare well even when I go to the camp this time and move on to Okinawa when I become the final (WBC) starter," he said.
After joining NC as a first-rounder in the 2021 rookie draft, he steadily gained opportunities and secured the main shortstop position, but his performance last year was special. In all 144 games, he played a batting average of 0.289 with 15 home runs, 65 RBIs, 98 runs and 44 steals, 0.379 on-base percentage, 0.451 on-base plus slugging percentage, and 0.830 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and dominated the KBO defense award along with the Golden Glove for the first time in his life. In terms of offense and defense, it is natural to say that he is the best shortstop in KBO at this time.
He also laughed the loudest in the results of the salary negotiations announced by the club earlier. Kim Ju-won signed a contract of 350 million won, up 75 percent from 200 million won last year.
Kim Joo-won said, "When I joined the team, it was an amount that I could never have imagined, but I'm happy that it went well and I got a lot of salary." "I came in with a down payment of 150 million won when I was a rookie, but since I finished the season well last year and was raised by 150 million won, I think I'm able to remember that feeling again when I was a rookie."
Kim Joo-won, who spent time without going down to Changwon after returning from a four-hour flight from Saipan on the 20th, heads to Seattle on a long 11-hour flight, heads back to Phoenix on a domestic flight, and heads to Tucson, the camp site, through vehicle movement. It's a rough schedule that takes almost a full day.
Nevertheless, Kim Joo-won moves to the regular seat. Kim Joo-won is still lowering his posture even though he has become a player with a fairly large salary. "It's too expensive and I'm still not used to spending too much money at once," he said. "I'm still young. I think I'll have to do that next year," he said with a shy smile.
There is a burden of long-distance flights, but it is clear why Kim Joo-won is heading to Arizona. "I think it's better to prepare in a warm and environmental place and a familiar place because the environment in the United States is so good," he said.
At Saipan camp, he followed big leaguer Kim Hye-sung, watching, learning, and asking a lot of things. Now it's time to tell the juniors who look up to themselves a lot. In particular, Shin Jae-in, a junior directly under Yoo Shin-go and the second-ranked rookie in total, said, "I saw him train in the winter when I was in the first and second grades, and he was so good at defense and batting," adding, "I couldn't talk to him a lot because I was a bit shy, but I learned a lot just by watching him." I just happened to be on the same team and communication is important, so I think I have to talk a lot and learn a lot," he vowed.
Kim Joo-won said, "I'm still lacking a lot, so I wonder if I can tell Jae-in, but I've gained something in the past six years without realizing it, so I think it'll be helpful if Jae-in asks me, so I'm going to teach him as much as I can."
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*This content was translated by AI.
