*This content was translated by AI.
LG Twins' Hyun Ki-hyun (20), who played as a pitcher until last year, is showing impressive performance in his first year devoted to batters.
Yoo Hyun-hyun is a right-handed uta infielder who was nominated by LG as the 20th overall in the second round of the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Gyeonggi High School. During his high school days in Gyeonggi Province, he threw a fastball of up to 153 kilometers per hour, but led the team to the final with strong shoulders and punch power at bat.
The beginning of the first year was a pitcher. At the time of the nomination, LG's mound needed to be nurtured, and above all, he couldn't give up his shoulders throwing more than 150 kilometers per hour since high school. Many resources to raise Koo Bon-hyuk (29), Moon Bo-kyung (26), and Lee Young-bin (24) also contributed to the same occasion.
But the pitcher didn't fit my clothes as I thought. Rather, he was injured during the build-up process, and the player himself was greedy to hit. In the end, he began to rebuild his body little by little from last summer, and declared his transition this year.
It takes time to nurture field prospects because they have to have both defense and hitting suitable for the first-team level. Despite such shortcomings, there was a reason why LG gave up and fostered fastballs.
Mo Chang-min (41), LG's first-team batting coach, recently met with Star News at the Okinawa spring camp in Japan, said, "I certainly have talent for hitting. It has the power to hit far away, but it's also soft and flexible. Above all, he admired that his ability to acquire is ridiculously good.
He also expressed satisfaction with the bat of the baby beast, who wielded fiercely despite his young appearance, and led LG to the championship. Coach Mo Chang-min said, "Just looking at him hitting, he hits farther than (Oh) Ji-hwan when he was young. Of course, right now, there are many weaknesses such as the ability to fight pitchers and cope with breaking balls. It is difficult to use it right away in the first team after just changing from a pitcher to a batter, but the talent itself has the potential to grow into a big-handed infielder," he praised.
It was a match against Suwon KT Wiz on the 16th, which showed some of the talent's convenience. Ryu Hyun-hyun, who was included in the first starting lineup of the exhibition game as the eighth batter and third baseman, hit hard with three hits (one home run) and two RBIs and two runs from four times at bat.
The highlight was in the top of the sixth inning when LG led 3-2. Yoo Hyun-hyun hit a 131km/h slider that came high toward Lee Sang-dong's body in the second base with no outs, where Koo Bon-hyuk went out with a double on the left line, and crossed it out of the left fence. It was a 110-meter home run that you can feel as soon as you hit it.
When asked about his decision to turn to a fielder after the game, Yoo Hyung-hyun, who met with reporters, said, "I have never regretted it. After changing it, now I know for sure what to do. I learned a lot from the camp, and I think I feel a lot while playing in exhibition games," he said with strength.
LG members are sincere about the young prospect, who was happy that he was "so excited" even with the first starting lineup of the exhibition game. First of all, the head coach showed his will to nurture it step by step over a long period of time. Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said before the game, "Trendy is to look at next year and give it a chance. If it's good even in the middle of the season, I'm going to put it in the first team once in a while. In two to three years, I will try to have shortstop or third baseman. We will also invest because it is clear that we have A-level potential," he explained.
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*This content was translated by AI.
