"Floating → double play." I thought Kim Do-young was upset about "Why" and Ahn Hyun-min, who is deeply involved. It's been 7 months since Kim Do-young made fun of her" [Okinawa Station]

*This content was translated by AI.

"What are you doing, DOYOUNG?"

There was a reason for Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT Wiz) to tease his friend who was out and returned to the dugout.

Ahn Hyun-min started as the second batter and right fielder in a practice game against the Samsung Lions at Akama Stadium in Onnason, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on the 20th and recorded one hit (one home run) and one walk and one RBI in two at-bats.

It was the first practice match against the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) of the national team. Ahn Hyun-min's performance was by far outstanding in the game, where Jung Woo-joo lost 3-4 on a three-run home run.

In the top of the first inning, Ahn Hyun-min hit Choi Won-tae's fastball over 122 meters and wide out of the right-center fence. Yang Chang-seop struck out swinging in the third inning, and got on base due to a shortstop error in the sixth inning. In the last at-bat, he continued his opportunity by getting a walk from a shaky Bae Chan-seung.

He took first base three times, including the opponent's error, but it was not in Ahn Hyun-min's standard. Ahn Hyun-min, who met with reporters after the game, said, "One is error, so to be exact, it's second base. The first at-bat was not bad, and it was okay except for the second at-bat, he said. "I made a hit and was satisfied because the feeling of watching the ball at-bat seemed to come up similar to the regular season."

Ryu Ji-hyun, coach of the national team, put Ahn Hyun-min at No. 2 and Kim Do-young at No. 3, setting up a strong top batting order. Kim Do-young started with a sharp double that brushed the side of the third base in his first at-bat in the first inning, and he also drew a walk in the fourth inning. However, he stepped down with a catcher foul fly in the sixth inning, and in his last at-bat in the seventh inning, he poured cold water with a 6-4-3 double play with one out and runners on the first and second bases.

In response, Ahn Hyun-min said, "Whenever (Kim) Do-young couldn't play, he said, 'What are you doing now?' but in fact, I have nothing to advise Do-young. I and Doyoung are also trying to do well."

"Actually, I haven't been out of baseball for a long time, but Doyoung is playing for the first time in seven months (after his injury). (Considering that), I think Doyoung also hit the ball well today and it's flowing in a good direction."

Ahn Hyun-min was recently selected as a key player of Korea by MLB.com , the official website of the Major League Baseball. He was also mentioned as a muscle man compared to Mike Trout (LA Angels), a five-tool player and three-time MVP.

Despite the best evaluation, he said, "Thank you so much for looking forward to it. But it's just beginning. My goal now is to get good results and enter the lineup for the first round of the WBC while playing warm-up matches," he said.

For WBC, which is full of fastball pitchers, fastball coping was the top priority. However, Samsung also couldn't see many fastballs because this was its first real game.

Ahn Hyun-min didn't care about this part at all. "In fact, not all players at this time are in their best condition yet. So, it is more important to go to the competition with Osaka and adjust to it than Okinawa. Now, I'm focusing on that part because it's a priority to add visual field adaptation rather than fast ball adaptation," he said with strength.

He said, "The batting order issue is not a style that I feel burdened by, but rather it's fun to get more at-bats. In fact, I have a lot of thoughts during the season, but when I come to the national team, I approach it simply. I think that's why I keep getting good results," he said with a smile.

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*This content was translated by AI.