Ha Young-min (29), a right-handed pitcher of the Kiwoom Heroes in professional baseball, was like a ray of light in the team that finished at the bottom of last season.스포츠토토

Having played in the bullpen for a long time since joining in 2014, he got an opportunity as a built-in starter in 2024 and pitched 150 ⅓ innings in 28 games, performing 9-8 with a 4.37 ERA.

For the first time since his debut, he has achieved the regular innings and ranked 16th in the league's ERA.

Ha Young-min said, "I am training while maintaining good memories from last year. I have no problem throwing the ball because I am recovering quickly, and I feel like my body is improving quickly, so I want to play quickly while maintaining good memories."

If Ha Young-min did not play the role of the third starter in the starting lineup last season, Kiwoom's mound situation would have been much darker.

He won six games in the first half of the season and tried to become a 10-win pitcher for the first time, but unfortunately missed the opportunity by losing two games without winning in six games at the end of the season.

Ha Young-min cited physical exhaustion as the reason for this, saying, "In the first half, the innings passed easily, but in the second half, it was difficult due to lack of physical strength. To compensate for this, we are training to increase the capacity of the physical strength battery."

The focus was on minimizing technical changes but increasing the utilization of the pitch species.

"In order to grow to the next level, physical strength comes first," he said. "Next is prevention of injury, and the last is the use of pitches. Last year, we didn't use folk balls for right-handed hitters and cut fast balls for left-handed hitters, but this year, we will use them to make hitters think more about them," he said.

Ha has become more responsible this season. Foreign pitchers Ariel Furado and Enmanuel de Heysus, who both kept the starting lineup last year, have left the team, and Kenny Rosenberg is the only foreign pitcher left.

In response, Ha said, "I have no pressure. Last year, we displayed early momentum in a similar situation. Now, the players are in fierce competition to fill the vacancy," adding, "We are a team that has always broken the question mark. We can unite this year and have high expectations as we did early last year."

Looking forward to the appearance of the "second Ha Young-min," he said, "I hope there will be a Korean starting pitcher who makes a surprise appearance like me. I will also try not to lose my seat."

Regarding the way he approaches his juniors, he said, "I don't approach them first. They might feel pressured. Instead, he said, "If you come comfortably and tell me, I will tell you everything I have."

He said, "Thank you for approaching juniors such as Kim Yoon-ha and Jeon Jun-pyo first," hoping to interact with more juniors in the future.

Ha Young-min's goal this year is "self who has grown from last year."

"Last year's goal was 150 pitching innings and 10 wins, but we achieved innings but we lacked wins. My goal is to surpass last year every year. I think I have to throw 170 innings this year to feel that I have grown," he said.

Lastly, Ha Young-min told his juniors, "The answer is to win. You should not be more happy when you win and get used to losing. If the loss is prolonged, you should realize that you are wrong and know how to be angry."