After graduating from Goyang Deokyang Little-Jamsin Middle School and Seoul High School, Kim Dong-hyun was nominated by KT as the 9th overall in the first round of the KBO Rookie Draft in 2025. The fastest fastball, which comes from a large physique of 193 centimeters tall and weighs 97 kilograms, throws splitter, change-up, slider and curve as its main weapons.토토사이트

His high school record stands at just 18 strikeouts, with 11 games, one win and one loss, and an earned run average of 4.24 and 17 ⅓ innings. Due to his thick third-year depth, he started his first official competition in his second year, and displayed some of his talents by playing in nine games and 14 ⅓ innings in his third year.

To Lee Chung-moo, the head of KT's scouting team, Kim Dong-hyun's first impression was not good. "I saw (Kim) Dong-hyun when I was a sophomore, and he didn't look good with his hat on," Lee said in a recent phone call with Star News. "But after going there often and talking to him a few times, I changed my mind. The more we talked, the deeper our thoughts were, and he was definitely clever."

Even KT fans could easily feel his unexpected charm. After receiving the nomination by KT, he thanked his fellow players not only for the Seoul High School baseball team but also for his unexpected charm.

Kim Dong-hyun told reporters in September last year that his classmates asked him to talk about us when they were selected in the first round. Now that I think about it, I have a lot of memories with my classmates. They must have a lot of things to study and watch the draft video because they are seniors in high school. I had so many things to be thankful for, so I tried not to forget my promise with my friends," he said calmly.

Since then, Kim Dong-hyun has quickly won the hearts of fans by expressing his true feelings about KT through his official appearance and the club's YouTube channel. It was one of them that he came to see the postseason last year with the same rookies. "I felt 'good to have come to this team' when I saw our team go to the semi-playoff last year," he told Star News last month. There is a reason for every team that went to fall baseball for five consecutive years. Seeing the seniors in person flying in the stands made me feel like they would protect me when I took the mound. I also want to contribute to their passion and fighting spirit."

Excellent physical conditions, compliance with the fastball vertical movement and excellent work-esque were the reasons KT officials, including manager Lee Kang-chul, considered him as a starting pitcher for the first team in the future. "We see (Kim) Dong-hyun as a starting pitcher. In high school, there was an evaluation that he was not good at controlling the ball up and down, but honestly, we didn't know that it would come to us," Lee Chung-moo, the team's team leader, said. "But we prepared, and as a result of the coach and the scout fully considered and talked, we decided that we could catch the ball that was shaking up and down."

"The splitter has a good angle as well as the curve, which is a fastball and a crystal ball. It wasn't revealed much because it didn't appear in the official competition, but it was Kim Dong-hyun who was really hard to touch on a good day in the practice game," he stressed.

Since last season's closing camp, Kim has been focusing on lower body balance and strike since last season's end. He has been accompanied by the top-tier spring camp, and is thus absorbing the advantages of outstanding pitching seniors. With Kim already on the list of starting candidates for KT, fans are paying keen attention to how he will look when he returns from the spring camp.