I wanted to impress Korean baseball fans as well."

His experience as a member of the Korean national team further strengthened Kim Hui-jip (NC Dinos). He is poised to lead Korea's performance in the upcoming international competition.메이저사이트

Kim Hui-jip, who was nominated by the Kiwoom Heroes as the ninth overall in the second round in 2021, is a right-to-right infield utility resource that can see shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman. He has been wearing NC uniforms since the middle of last year, and has a batting average of 0.239 (301 hits in 1,260 at-bats) and 33 home runs and 168 RBIs in his career of 396 games (on-base plus slugging) of 0.698.

Notably, Kim's transfer through trade last year was a turning point in his baseball career. NC handed over two rookie nominations (the first and third rounds) for the 2025 season to Kiwoom on May 30, 2024, and acquired Kim. "It is to strengthen the infield. I will use both second and third basemen as well as shortstop," NC`s general manager Lim Sun-nam said at the time. "It was a waste (to secure the first and third round nominations), but there was something that I strongly wanted at the site. So, I tried to secure the trade. Originally, we discussed the nomination rights and players, but it was not easy to reach an agreement on players. Eventually, we changed our direction to the nomination rights."

And Kim completely met NC`s expectations. He slowed down with a batting average of 0.205 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in June, but rebounded with a batting average of 0.295 with three home runs and six RBIs in July. Since then, Kim has finished the 2024 season with a batting average of 0.293 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in August and a batting average of 0.316 with two home runs and 15 RBIs in September.

The final result was a batting average of 0.258 (126 hits in 488 at-bats) with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs with an OPS of 0.747. It was the first time in 2024 that Kim Hwi-jip hit a double-digit home run in a season, and his slugging percentage also exceeded .400 (0.410) for the first time.

Thanks to these performances, Kim Hui-jip was having a busier off-season than anyone else. In addition to conducting individual training, he was invited to various baseball-related events. He participated in a winter academic conference held by the Korean Baseball Association last month, and plans to participate as an instructor at the 2025 KBO Rookie Orientation held at Daejeon Convention Center on the 7th, giving advice to junior players.

"I went to many events every weekend. I think I went around a lot compared to my skills," Kim said with a bright smile. "I haven't thought about what I'll talk about (at the orientation for rookies). I don't think I'm good enough to be a lecturer. Rather than teaching them what to do, I will try to make it fun and comfortable for my older brother to accept. He invited me a lot (to the event) compared to my skills, so I think I need to play baseball better this year."

"A lot of (Changwon fans) recognize me. I feel a lot of love (from fans)," he said. "I want to do well so that Changwon citizens can really like NC and have pride. I think the role of sports teams is great."

Kim is also focusing on individual training to display stellar performance in the 2025 season. "I hope that the sports I'm doing now will lead to good results during the season," Kim said. "I'm focusing on weight training when it comes to physical strength. In terms of technology, I'm going to make changes to my mechanisms (such as my hitting form). I'm investing a lot of time. I'm working on those plans to see if they will perform well in spring camps and exhibition games and how they will perform during the season."

He said, "I thought the mechanism now has a limit. It's a challenge in its own way," and added, "I felt last year that there was no choice but to have a limit in this way. It may not be obvious when the fans see it in the form, but my feeling has changed a lot. I'm changing it, but I don't think it will be easy to come out right away. Because the season is long, I try to be consistent without being shaken (even if the result is slow). I think it's my motto and keyword. I think the unshakable mind is important."

Kim's experience as a national team member in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 after the end of the last season is a great motivation for him. "When I go to a big stage, I always want to do well. I want to work hard in the off-season. I need to improve my skills so that I can have good results in the future," Kim said.

Unfortunately, the team failed to advance to the Super Round, which was targeted as a goal, after being hamstrung by Taiwan and Japan in the Premier 12. Instead, the championship went to Taiwan.

Kim Hui-jip said, "Taiwan is a good team, but I didn't think it was a good team to win. I thought it was a dark horse, but watching him win I thought I should do my best. Mindfulness is important and the atmosphere was really good," and added, "When I saw Taiwanese players play, I felt that they were advanced. It was a position that we had to learn from everything, including swing and defense."

Lastly, he said, "Personally, it was cool that Taiwan won the championship. The players and the people really liked it when I watched the final (against Japan). When I returned to Taiwan after winning the championship, I was impressed that the people liked it," adding, "I wanted to impress Korean baseball fans."