"I have a batting average of 360, and I sent you a video of the strike."" It was possible for Ahn Hyun-min, a high school teacher to respect him, and even a full-time MVP candidate in the first year

*This content was translated by AI.

Last year, Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT Wiz) was once mentioned as an MVP candidate even though he started the season a month later than other players in his first full-time year.

It was early August, when the season batting average reached 0.365 . Of course, since then, he has suffered a slump with a batting average of 0.234 per month in August, and the sound of MVP naturally went in. However, it was also impressive that he showed afterwards. He hit hard again with a batting average of 0.344 since September. The final performance was a batting average of 0.334 (132 hits in 395 at-bats) in 112 games in the regular season, 22 home runs, 80 RBIs, 72 runs and 7 steals, and an on-base percentage of 0.448 slugging percentage of 0.570 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.018. It was the moment when the super rookie, who dominated the Rookie of the Year and the Golden Glove at the same time for the first time in 13 years in the KBO League, was born.

The process was never easy. It is common for a young player who has not played full-time yet to show good performance for a month or as long as the first half and then collapse as it is when he begins to slump. However, Ahn Hyun-min quickly regained his pace in a month. The backstory I heard directly from my high school teacher added probability to the cartoon-like scenario.

Ko Yoon-sung (44), the coach of Masan High School who recently met with Star News at Masan High School, said, "(Ahn) Hyun-min is the same as he was in high school even when he was a professional. I keep in touch often, but around August last year, I hit a batting average of 360, and they sent me a video of hitting. I sent all the videos to not only me, but also to seniors who can watch the hitting mechanism and asked for advice," he recalled.

In other words, the player felt insufficient even at a time when the batting feeling was at its peak. Coach Ko Yoon-sung said, "I was worried because I couldn't secure space during the swing process. "I was doing it indoors according to my routine, but it didn't work out well in the end, so I went outside and kept swinging my bat," he said.

"I think I'll play cool baseball just by looking at my power, but he's a really delicate and meticulous player. He cares very sensitively about the angle of the bat and thinks of two leg kicks. It was not just that performance due to increased muscle mass. He added, "It's about figuring out how to use your current power to the best and turning the bat."

Many of the officials who have seen Ahn Hyun-min since childhood say that his greatest strength is not his pioneering eye, athletic ability, but his work ethic (work ethic and attitude). Coach Ko Yoon-sung is a leader who always informs his disciples of personality and attitude and mindset as a professional player. Coach Ko Yoon-sung also said of Ahn Hyun-min, "There is nothing to put on. Not to mention the training attitude, there was nothing against me as a student player," he said flatly.

According to head coach Ko Yoon-sung, there was no time to waste from high school until he joined the active duty and returned to KT. This is why he was able to grow into a kerrilla (KT+Gorilla) in high school due to dune injuries and back discs. Lee Chung-moo, head of KT's scout team, said, "(Ahn) Hyun-min didn't play even on military leave, and he batted at school (Masan High School) almost every day and did weight training from 2-3 a.m. Honestly, I don't know how many players are going to be that strong these days," he said.

It was coach Ko Yoon-sung who consistently sent Ahn Hyun-min's training video to KT. Coach Koh, who defined Ahn Hyun-min as a terrible hard worker, said, "(Ahn) Hyun-min has been sincere in baseball since he was young, and he really poured everything he could into it. "As a director, I'm sorry that I'm too old for my age," he shook his head.

He continued, "My friend who throws a batting ball really worked hard. I always came out in the evening and played the bat with the one who threw the batting ball. When I went home, he bought me a snack and a glove, but when I went to the pro, he bought me an expensive glove that cost more than 600,000 won. That's how much he took care of his juniors as much as he did," he added.

Ahn Hyun-min's success story became a model for his juniors. Coach Ko said, "Last year, we advanced to the quarterfinals (Golden Lion) and led the students to watch the game. Hyun-min didn't go to show how good he was at baseball. I wanted to show how sincere Hyun-min is in baseball and what kind of attitude he should have as a professional player, so I took my parents with him," he said.

After winning the Rookie of the Year award last year, Ahn Hyun-min targeted the KBO League MVP in 2026. He is a high school teacher who thinks the challenge is not fanciful. Coach Ko said, "In a way, (Ahn) Hyun-min is an optimized player for ABS (automatic pitching decision system). Hyunmin has a clear zone of his own. You never swing a ball that you can't hit. If the ball is caught in the ABS zone border ⅔, the bat will definitely go out," he explained.

It was also naturally explained why Ahn Hyun-min's slump was not long. In fact, Ahn Hyun-min's on-base percentage reached 0.381 even in August, when he was the most sluggish. While striking out 21, he quietly waited for his time, getting 19 pitches, including a dune. Coach Ko said, "Swinging may decrease and long-shot productivity may decrease. "Because I don't touch balls that are out of my zone, the on-base percentage is guaranteed even if the batting balance is poor," he pointed out.

At the same time, "Of course, as I am still young, if I have a lot of thoughts, I can go through trial and error. However, I believe we will be able to perform better this year because we make tremendous efforts to match the shortcomings. "I believe that I can become a batter representing South Korea with a batting average of .300 and 20 home runs guaranteed when I reach my late 20s through trial and error," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.