*This content material was translated by AI.
Kwon Hee-jae (20), a sophomore catcher at Busan University of Science and Technology who was chosen as a school all-star for 2 consecutive years, is difficult the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft.
Kwon Hee-jae is a right-handed batter and right-handed throwing catcher whose energy stems from his strong construct, standing 181 cm tall and weighing 91 kg in accordance to the Korea Baseball and Softball Association (KBSA). He has been a catcher since the third grade of elementary college, and after attending Masan Yongma High School, he entered college the place his abilities have blossomed.
As of the top of the sport on the twenty second, over his two years in school, he performed in 33 video games with a batting common of 0.306 (108 at-bats, 33 hits), 15 doubles, 1 house run, 25 RBIs, 23 runs scored, an on-base proportion of 0.423, and a slugging proportion of 0.491, surpassing an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.914. A KBO scout acknowledged, “He is a player we need to watch a bit longer, but he is a catcher who is competent in both offense and defense. He has accumulated catcher experience by playing in many games. He is a player with a strength in offense who is on the draft radar.”
Kwon Hee-jae additionally acquired into catching as a result of he was fascinated by the catcher’s perspective. Meeting with StarInformation not too long ago in Daejeon, he recalled, “I started playing baseball in the first grade of elementary school and played catcher in the third grade. As I continued, I felt a unique charm in looking at the field from the opposite direction by myself, and I enjoyed it without feeling it was difficult.”
He added, “I like baseball, but I didn’t favor any specific team. I followed players closely, and I liked senior Kang Min-ho from Samsung. Even though he is much older, I liked how smoothly and calmly he played. Recently, senior Kim Hyung-jun from NC has become my role model because he has soft hands and a strong arm.”
College catchers have developed all their strengths. As adults, their muscle power has improved considerably, and repeated appearances have allowed them to shortly accumulate expertise. Among them, Kwon Hee-jae has been acknowledged for his progress, having been chosen as a school all-star for 2 consecutive years on the High School-College All-Star Game.
Kwon Hee-jae stated, “I did a lot of weight training after entering university, which greatly increased my power. Also, our school plays 120 to 130 games a year, and last year I handled almost all of them by myself. Our school plays more games than other schools, so I was able to accumulate a lot of experience thanks to that.”
He continued, “My body has become more complete than in high school, so I think I was able to deliver the performance I had envisioned in my mind. Also, I have more composure than when I was young, so my confidence has grown significantly. I have also reduced my negative thoughts a lot.”
Scouts generally cite Kwon Hee-jae’s strong arm as his power. According to Kwon Hee-jae, his pop time (the time it takes for a catcher to take away the ball from the mitt after a steal try and ship it to the infielder’s glove to stop a steal at second base) reaches a high of 1.87 seconds and an common of 1.9 seconds.
Kwon Hee-jae additionally emphasised, “My strength as a catcher is my strong arm. Preventing steals is my biggest advantage, and my blocking and catching are above average without any weaknesses.”
He recalled, “The thing I focused on most this past winter was weight training. I had a tough full season and concentrated most on building my body. I also worked hard on recovery exercises, focusing on preventing steals and blocking to further leverage my strengths.”
However, he shook his head on the public notion of him as a defensive catcher and claimed to be an offensive catcher. He is the one who represented his college in the house run derby on the 4th Hanwha Eagles Cup High School-College All-Star Game held on the eighth.
Kwon Hee-jae acknowledged, “Recently, people have been calling me a defensive catcher, but I consider myself an offensive catcher. Personally, I had great confidence in my bat since high school. Even if my performance this year isn’t good, I believe I have the ability to make contact, so I think I am a decent spray hitter.”
This yr, the analysis is that the catcher pool is just not unhealthy. While there are not any large-scale catchers anticipated to be drafted inside the second spherical, there are lots of catcher assets throughout high faculties and universities who are probably to go to the skilled stage. Kwon Hee-jae is predicted as an immediate-ready catcher together with Yonsei University’s Kim Dong-joo (22).
Kwon Hee-jae expressed his formidable plans, saying, “I would be grateful if any team picks me. If I join the KBO League, I want to try catching pitches from pitchers who are better with fastballs than breaking balls. I want to meet seniors like An Woo-jin, who is said to have the best pitches in Korea, and Park Young-hyun. On the other hand, I also want to face those pitchers as a batter, testing strength against strength. As a batter who hits fast pitches well, I want to face them once.”
*This content material was translated by AI.