During his career, he was a ‘lefty’.

Former Samsung pitcher Lim Hyun-jun, 36, a rare lefty sidearm thrower in the league. He was originally an overslung pitcher. When he couldn’t get strikes, he tried to change it up. A fight for survival. It worked. Since 2016, when he made the change, he has allowed just 67 hits against lefties in 357 appearances. A 2.01 ERA. He remained a lefty specialist until 2021.

In 2021, Choo Shin-soo, who came to the KBO via SSG Landers, was captured shaking his head in an exhibition game.

All of these successful transformations were the result of hard work.

Lim joined Samsung in 2011 after graduating from Daegu High and Kyungsung University and spent 11 years as a one-club man.

He played a whopping 239 matches. This would not have been possible without transformation. Baseball players are sensitive to form. They have a hard time adjusting to the slightest change. He changed his swing position, and it worked. 토토사이트 He was able to perfect his delivery with a ball that wasn’t fast enough. We can only imagine how much sweat went into that shot.

Lim, who was synonymous with sincerity, is taking on a new challenge as a scout after retiring from active duty.

From the beginning, there was a crisis.

“Honestly, I didn’t know how hard scouting was. “

With characteristic diligence and precision, he scoured the floor of the field.

“I can judge a player’s skills to a certain extent, but to get a feel for his inner workings and personality, I talk to a lot of different people. I talk to his coaches about how he prepares and trains for baseball, I talk to his head coach in middle school. I make a list of questions, and it’s not easy.”

The first player he met as a scout. It was Lee Ho-seong, the future of Samsung’s mound. He was so good from the start that he was ‘blindsided,’ as the saying goes.

“He was the first pitcher I saw when I first went out scouting, and I was told by my scouting seniors that I should keep my eyes down, and that principle was broken from the first day. He was a good person, he was sincere, he was serious, he had a good desire for baseball, and his skills weren’t bad. As I expected, he got better as time went on. When you watch him in practice, you can see he’s thinking about his pitches, he’s not just throwing the ball around, he’s pitching with his mindset. I think his pacing in his first year as a pro could have been better, but he’s a guy that we can build on for the future.”

Preparing for the 2024 Rookie Draft with a year’s worth of experience.

Samsung’s focus was on securing promising pitching resources. A scout with a pitching background was needed. Lim had his busiest year ever. It paid off.

In addition to the ‘highest potential’ Yuk Sun-yup, the team selected only pitchers in the fifth round, including top college pitchers Park Jun-yong, Jung Min-sung, and Kim Sung-kyung.

“The focus was to strengthen the pitching side, and we paid a lot of attention to complete pitchers with character and mindset. I said I would do my best, but I think we strategized well as a team.”

Jang Chung-go’s fourth pick in the first round, pitcher Yuk Sun-yeop. A fireballer prospect with an imposing figure of 1.90 meters and 90 kilograms, he throws a fastball that exceeds 150 kilometers. I wondered what scout Lim Hyun-jun thought of him.

“I think he has one of the best potentials among the rookie pitchers. He has a lot of potential. He has a good attitude towards baseball and a good training attitude and mindset. He has a habit of writing down the opposing hitters’ pitches when his team is attacking, which is a good habit that is not easy for professional players to do. While reviewing, he prepares for how to face them next time. I tried to see those details.”

I also wanted to know what he thought of Park Jun-yong, a right-handed pitcher from Suseong University who was selected with the 14th pick of the second round.

“He’s a college graduate, but because of his late birthday (he was born on December 9, 2003), he’s practically the same age as a high school senior. He was the best starting pitcher in the college league. His personality and mindset are not just good, but great. He has the attitude and strength to know his weaknesses and strive to improve even if no one tells him to.”

After two years of scouting the field, the young pitchers handpicked by Lim are the ones who will lead the Lions’ mound for the next decade.

The importance of their work is becoming more and more tangible.

“When I came to the front office, I realized the importance of nurturing and scouting. Recently, there are multi-year contracts, and the chances of getting a good player in a trade have decreased, so I feel a sense of responsibility, thinking that scouting is the first step for a team to become a consistent powerhouse.”

I asked him about his scouting philosophy.

“You have to have a good understanding of players. To develop a player, a good system, a good coach is important, but most importantly, the player’s will is important. If a good coach and conditions go hand in hand with the player’s will, he can improve his skills, play in the first team, and continue to grow, but if the player doesn’t have the will, I think the probability drops. Just like Lee Jung-hoo or Kim Ha-sung, who reached the major leagues, try to do better every year. 토토사이트 순위 Skill is important, but the player’s heart is important. It’s best if the player is not just good, but has a greed for his own things and works hard, and has a good personality. (Laughs)”

Lim decided to dedicate the second act of his baseball career to discovering and nurturing prospects, which can be either as a scout or as a leader.

“When I retired from active play, I had a strong desire to be a leader, but now that I’m scouting, I’m also attracted to the front office, which is the center of the team. I don’t know how my life will turn out, but I’m going to move in both directions and explore the path of leadership when a good opportunity comes along.”