Kiwoom Heroes catcher Kim Gun-hee (21) hit a home run with three consecutive at-bats from the first game of the 2025 season to announce his good condition.메이저놀이터

Kim Gun-hee started as the team's fourth batter and catcher in the "2025 Kiwoom Spring Camp" Cheongbaek match held at the Athletic Ground in Mesa, Arizona on the 14th (Korea time) and led the back team to an 11-3 victory with three hits (three home runs) and one walk in three at-bats, including three consecutive home runs.

The Blue team consisted of Yasiel Puig (left fielder), Song Seong-moon (designated hitter), Ruben Cadines (right fielder), Choi Joo-hwan (first baseman), Lee Ju-hyung (center fielder), Kim Dong-yeop (designated hitter), Kang Jin-seong (third baseman), Kim Jae-hyun (catcher), Kim Tae-jin (striker), and Seo Yoo-shin (second baseman). Ha Young-min, Park Joo-sung, Won Jong-hyun, Kim Sun-ki, Lee Kang-joon and Kim Dong-gyu were in charge of the mound one inning each.

Against this backdrop, the white team comprised of Park Soo-jong (center fielder), Lee Yong-gyu (left fielder), Lee Hyung-jong (right fielder), Kim Gun-hee (fosu), Kim Woong-bin (third baseman), Kim Dong-heon (designated hitter), Lim Ji-yeol (designated hitter), Lee Won-seok (first baseman), Oh Sun-jin (striker), and Kim Byung-hwi (second baseman). Kenny Rosenberg, Kim Yoon-ha, Joo Seung-woo, Kim Sung-min, Kim Yeon-gi (second baseman) took the mound in the order of one inning each.

The hero of the day was definitely Kim Gun-hee, the next generation maestro. Kim hit a solo shot to left to Park at the top of the second inning when Team Baek was losing 0-1, and fired a two-run shot to Won Jong-hyun at the top of the third inning with one out and runners on the first base. Baek-mi was on first base with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Everyone was surprised when she drew a huge two-run arch against Kim that hit the electronic display in the middle. "Are you using foul bat?" pitcher Kim Sung-min even joked to Kim when he was coming in after hitting a home run.

"It's my first home run in three consecutive at-bats in the professional league. I don't think I had it in high school," Kim Gun-hee said after the match. "I think it's better to be in the first team because I hit well now than to not be able to hit well through practice. Today was especially meaningful because (Lee) Jung-hoo was also behind me."

The most satisfying homerun was the third one he hit to Kim Sun-ki. He swung the bat confidently at the ball count in favor of 3B0S. Oh Yoon, the first team hitting coach of Kiwoom who had talked with Kim for a while, soon agreed with the strike.

Kim Gun-hee said, "I didn't point it out by coach Oh Yoon, but I went and asked him separately. Coach Oh Yoon said when the results were good at the last at-bat, it would be beneficial for me to approach the strike zone a little narrower because the opponent's battery didn't give a good ball in the next at-bat. Just because I hit it well means that the bat shouldn't go out on a bad ball," adding, "But this time, I had confidence in three balls, and I swung it when I entered the course I was aiming for."

The modification of the batting form pointed out by coach Oh Yoon throughout the winter is working well. "I had a habit that my body usually goes into the home plate and opens at once," Kim Gun-hee said. Coach Oh Yoon said, "If that happens, I'll fall for the outer breaking ball." He told me to look at the pitcher head-on only for the course you wanted, but I think it's really good that he made such a change. He also made my routine, and at first, I lost my energy in the middle of the camp to adjust, but as I get used to it, I think I get good results like today," he said.

Rather than being excited about three consecutive home runs, he showed a mature attitude as a batter, pitcher, and catcher. To reporters' joke that the catcher killed the pitchers too much, Kim Geon-hee said, "That way, seniors will sharpen their skills and throw better. There is also something I think it is really good for me to hit the ball directly to the pitchers during the Blue and White games or live pitching. Some of them were actual throws, but when this pitcher threw to this course, I felt that there was a high probability of hitting long balls. It was an even more meaningful experience because I thought about what kind of lead I should take on this course as a catcher next time."

After graduating from Daejeon Shinheung Elementary School, Onyang Middle School, and Wonju High School, Kim Gun-hee joined Kiwoom as the sixth-ranked player in the first round of the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft, drawing attention as a talented player both as a pitcher and a batter. He tried both pitching and hitting in his first season, but failed to achieve results and focused only on hitters and catchers since last year.

Concentrating on just one spot was impressive. Despite playing 83 games since mid-season, he hit the most home runs among catchers in his team with a batting average of 0.257 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs. As a result, he is highly likely to become a catcher this year.

"As a catcher, my goal is to play in more than 100 games this year," Kim Geon-hee said. "I hope there are many defensive innings, and as a batter, I aim to hit 20 home runs. Originally, I set my goal higher, but coach Oh Yoon said there are steps in my growth and told me not to try too hard at once," he said. "But I still want to hit 30 home runs once. I want to do well and become a player sitting at home plate in the Korean Series."