2:3 Surprise Trade 'Super Big' → 'Go to the army right away' Criticized, finally saw the light right away! "The 5th home run in his professional career." Rareness itself

*This content was translated by AI.

"Go to the army right now" was a decisive home run that drew cynical criticism. A golden three-run shot that saved the team from danger. Kim Min-seok (22, Doosan Bears), the protagonist of the 2:3 mega trade, was crowned a hero.

The Doosan Bears came from behind to win 9-6 in the away game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on the 29th. As a result, Doosan was able to move to Daegu (against the Samsung Lions), the venue for three consecutive games during the week, after completing the opening two consecutive games with one win and one loss.

Doosan started Kwak Bin, the "native ace," but was shaken by scoring four runs, allowing Park Gun-woo and Kim Hyun-joon to shoot solo shots in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Doosan, which did, fought back in the top of the sixth inning. Jung Soo-bin and Kang Seung-ho made back two points by hitting consecutive timely hits. Then, NC took advantage of Choi Ji-gang's wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning to add one more point.

Again, Doosan chased Yang Seok-hwan in the top of the seventh inning with a two-run arch, 4-5, by one point. However, in the bottom of the seventh inning, NC's Kim Hwi-jip hit a timely hit to the right with one out and third base. The moment it becomes 6-4. In fact, it appeared to be a wedge.

However, Doosan's baseball started again in the eighth inning. At the center was Kim Min-seok, one of the main characters of the past 2:3 mega trade.

Doosan's leadoff hitter Kang Seung-ho drew a walk against the changed pitcher Kim Jin-ho in the top of the eighth inning. Following Yang Eui-ji, the first baseman foul fly out. The player who came to the batter's box was pinch hitter Daz Cameron, who started the game on the bench due to his somewhat bad hamstring condition. Cameron hit Kim Jin-ho's outer change-up at the end of the full count and hit a two-run shot over the left fence. It was a two-run home run that turned the game to 6-6.

This wasn't the end. When Ahn Jae-seok was allowed a double to left-center, NC placed Son Joo-hwan on the mound instead of Kim Jin-ho. NC bench ordered four automatic pitches after throwing two balls in a row against Yang Seok-hwan. Next up is Kim Minseok. Prior to this at-bat, he had been hitless in three at-bats due to strikeouts, strikeouts, and groundout to second base.

But this time it was different. Against Son Joo-hwan, he pulled a fork ball on his body for the third pitch with a ball count of 1-1, making a dramatic three-run shot over the right-center fence. The driving distance was a thrilling home run that turned from 120 meters to 6-6 to 9-6. Kim Min-seok's first home run of the season and his fifth career home run in his fourth year as a professional since his debut in 2023.

In the end, Doosan won after putting in "closer" Kim Taek-yeon after two outs in the eighth inning. It was also the moment when Kim Won-hyung won his first victory in two games since the opening after taking over as Doosan's head coach.

Kim Min-seok changed his uniform from Lotte to Doosan through a trade in November 2024, during the off-season. At that time, instead of giving pitcher Jung Chul-won and infielder Jeon Min-jae to Lotte, Doosan was a 2:3 trade in which Kim Min-seok, pitcher Choi Woo-in, and Choo Jae-hyun were received from Lotte, which was considered a huge trade along with the transfer of key prospects.

Kim Min-seok played in 12 exhibition games this year, posting a batting average of 0.233 (6 hits in 30 at-bats) with one double, two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks and six strikeouts. In the opening game against NC on the 28th, he played as a pinch runner and recorded one hit and one walk. And on this day, the head coach did not replace him in the end, and proved why he signed him in a trade by making a three-run shot that led the team to victory.

Doosan has yet to have a clear left-field and second-base position this season after going through spring camp. In response, there is an infinite competition. Coach Kim said he would use players in good condition first. And Kim Min-seok took a step ahead of the infinite competition, making him look forward to the next one even more.

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*This content was translated by AI.