"I know why you're using Kim Hyunsoo."" Everything has changed in just one month! Kim Hyun-soo effect enjoyed by LG, KT also realized

*This content was translated by AI.

KT Wiz is desperately experiencing the effect of Kim Hyun-soo (38), which has only been heard. Just a month was enough to know the value of a veteran who changed everything in a team.

KT manager Lee Kang-chul said at the 2026 KT Spring Camp held at Kushikawa Baseball Stadium in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on the 26th, "I know why you use Kim Hyun-soo. When I see him practicing, he's a really good player. If you said you knew why it was Kim Hyun-soo, it would be over. That's how well it melted into the team and the juniors follow it well. He said, "I think it will help our team a lot because we are really diligent and good."

In November last year, Kim signed a three-year, five-billion-won contract (down payment of 3 billion won, total annual salary of 2 billion won) with KT and changed his uniform. It was a month after his performance as the MVP of the Korean Series led his former team, the LG Twins, to their fourth unified championship.

Another thing that drew attention is leadership as Kim Hyun-soo, who succeeded in rebounding last year after two years of sluggishness, became an FA. Analysts say that LG's move to fall baseball for the seventh consecutive year was largely due to the recruitment of Kim Hyun-soo, who returned from the U.S. in 2018.

Even at the age of being classified as the oldest in the KBO League, the example of going to work as the first or second place in the baseball field every day and closing the training hall has essentially changed the culture of the LG team. In fact, LG, which remained in eighth place in 2018, became a regular team in fall baseball, and solved its long-cherished dream of winning in 2023 and 2025.

However, there were doubts whether Kim Hyun-soo was necessary because KT had all-time captaincy lines leading to Yoo Han-joon, Park Kyung-soo, and Hwang Jae-gyun and many excellent veterans. This part was a bone in the words of another KT veteran and captain Jang Sung-woo (36) for the second consecutive year.

Jang Sung-woo said, "I felt something while making my first argument last year. What I always say to the players this year is not a strong team just because the players get along well and have a good atmosphere. The strong team is a team with many good people. The team always develops only when the players themselves develop further. He explained, "When you play, you always act first with team play."

KT even won the Korean Series six years after entering the first team thanks to the performances of excellent veterans and rookies. After that, he steadily headed to fall baseball. However, as the veterans left one by one, the atmosphere gradually eased. The end was the suspension of the postseason record for the fifth consecutive year, coming in sixth behind the KBO's first fifth-place tiebreaker game.

Kim Hyun-soo seeped into the dugout, which only had a good atmosphere, in the form of alarm. Jang Sung-woo said, "I've only seen it outside a lot, it's the first time I've done it in the same team as (Kim) Hyun-soo. "There are probably a lot of things I see and feel, not only me, but also from young players to middle-class players," he said. "(Kim) Hyun-soo said, "I think I have to prove myself so that my juniors can follow me." When you get older and become a veteran, that's the most difficult part, but isn't Hyun-soo one of the best hitters in Korea in that regard?"

According to KT players, what Kim Hyun-soo does is not much different from LG. Start training early in the morning and perform a set routine. When I rest, I eat steadily with my juniors and narrow the distance. Although it seems normal, KT players are gradually realizing their greatness in their daily lives.

Jang Sung-woo said, "Hyun-soo is a senior who always prepares quickly and does his best. If that's the case with the oldest player, the players underneath have to follow, so it can be inconvenient," he said with a smile, adding, "From the coach or coach's point of view, 'Even such a great player like Kim Hyun-soo prepares and tries so hard...' That's why our players prepared well this time," he explained.

The person who quietly changed KT is concerned. Kim Hyun-soo, who chose to wait and see when he was recruited because he knew that KT had a better team culture than anyone else through his best friends Hwang Jae-gyun and Heo Kyung-min.

Kim Hyun-soo said, "It's not that I'm leading by example, but I'm doing it because I can do it. Sometimes I'm worried. I do it because I have physical strength, but each person has different physical strength. "He's doing that too." I can't lose my energy while copying him... I'm more worried about not only the elders but also the younger juniors," he said with an awkward smile.

The praise from all KT members said, "It's because the period is still short. "There are good people in a short time and good people in a long time, but it can be because it's short," he said with a smile, adding, "I'm having a lot of fun training. I'm glad that the players did well, and now I have a real game left, but I think if I play the game, I'll have more sense of belonging," he said with a smile.

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*This content was translated by AI.