I'll be in the first team next year."

We certainly have a goal for the future. We have to make sure we have a place in the first team next year."

Kim Tae-hyun, who was born in 1998 and graduated from Gimhae High School, is a left-hander with an average fastball of 145 kilometers and sharp splitter. It received so much attention that it was nominated by the NC Dinos as the first nomination in 2017.

But his growth has been rather slow. Until last year, he appeared in only eight games in the first division. The grades were not satisfactory either. He gave up 10 runs and eight earned runs in 6.1 innings without winning, losing, saving, or holding.

For Kim Tae-hyun, July 25 became an unforgettable day. At that time, he took the mound in the top of the seventh inning when NC was trailing 0-3 in the home game against the KIA Tigers at Changwon NC Park, leading Choi Won-joon to a pitcher groundout. He walked Kim Do-young, but caught Na Sung-bum (left-wing fly) and Choi Hyung-woo (right-wing fly) in turn.

The silent NC batters exploded in the bottom of the seventh inning. Park Kun-woo got a walk that he pushed with the bases loaded with two outs with Seo Ho-chul's left-center double, Kim Joo-won's walk, and Son Ah-seop's walk. Subsequently, NC was able to face a 5-3 victory as follow-up hitter Jason Martin fired a come-from-behind grand slam over the left fence. It was also the moment when Kim Tae-hyun's first victory, which he had been looking forward to, came out.

Kim Tae-hyun, who met during NC's CAMP 1 (finishing training), which was recently completed, said, "It's the most memorable moment of this season. It was so unexpected. "I was losing, but I was thinking about not giving a score because I was three points away," he said. "Fortunately, I blocked it well, but I had a chance. I was cheering on the bench, but the team succeeded in turning the tables. The older members cheered for me that I would win my first game. After the game, a club official also took care of the commemorative picture," he said.

"It was the most memorable moment of this season," he said. I wanted to win my first game a lot, but I feel good because I feel like I'm doing it late this year. I think my future goals are more clear, such as next year and the year after next," he said with a bright smile.

In addition to the simple victory, Kim Tae-hyun had a significant time this year. He played in 16 games (20.1 innings), the most since his debut in the first division, and made a report card with one win and an ERA of 4.43. Above all, the unstable control (14 dunes), which was pointed out as a weakness, has been greatly supplemented. This was the same in the Futures League. In 21 games (21.2 innings), he posted a 3.32 ERA with two wins, three saves and one hold. He only gave up nine walks.

Nevertheless, Kim stressed that he should control his ball more fully. "The average fastball speed is up to 145 kilometers," he said. I think I found a lot of speed when I was young. "I think fastball speed is okay," he said. "But in order to perform better, we have to create a breaking ball." The trajectory is good, but the control is not perfect yet. "I think how much we supplement this will be an important task during this offseason," he nodded.

Kim Tae-hyun then said, "I'm throwing sliders and splitters right now. The movement is okay, but you can deceive batters more only when you have some control. It's not perfect yet. "We need to improve our ball control even more with fast balls," he added.

He continued, "We are focusing on training to balance the lower body well during CAMP 1. The ball control gets better when it's well held here. He explained, "With the help of coaches, I am training a lot focusing on lower body balance."

Lim Jung-ho, a veteran bullpen pitcher who entered the professional league in 2013 and has recorded 10-16 losses, 1 save, 83 holds and an ERA of 4.31 in 414 games (257 innings) so far this year, is one of the teachers who made Kim Tae-hyun play the slider. The two players also have something in common: left-handers.

Kim Tae-hyun said, "Since I'm the same left-hander, I talk to (Im) Jung-ho a lot. "I've learned a lot," he said. "He told me what to pay attention to when playing catch ball and where to put the direction. "I asked a lot of questions because I wanted to learn sliders, but they told me well," he expressed his gratitude.

NC had a meaningful year this season. He was considered one of the last candidates before the opening, but he proudly ranked fourth in the regular league and won a ticket to fall baseball. It has become stronger in the postseason. He did not lose a single game against Doosan Bears, SSG Landers, and KT Wiz until Game 2 of the wild card match (best of two games, one win for fourth place), semi-playoffs, and playoffs (best of five games or more). Unfortunately, he failed to reach the Korean Series after losing three consecutive games, but he performed well enough to be applauded.

In particular, this postseason is more meaningful as NC's first fall baseball was held at Changwon NC Park, which opened in March 2019. NC played in fall baseball in 2019 and 2020, but in 2019, when it advanced to fifth place, it fell to the LG Twins in one game in the wild card game. In 2020, when he won the unified championship, all games of the Korean Series were held at Gocheok Sky Dome in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Kim Tae-hyun, who failed to make the entry, left his regret behind and watched the pre-postseason game at Changwon NC Park for the first time. It was a big motivation for him.

Kim Tae-hyun said, "I went to all the games (to watch fall baseball at Changwon NC Park) in person." It was the first postseason at Changwon NC Park. There was a regret that if I had done a little better, I could have done it together, and watching the game, my team was so good that I wanted to do it together next year. There is another reason to do well. I thought a lot about doing it together over there next year without fail," he said, clenching his two fists.

Finally, he said, "Next year, we have to make sure we have a place in the first team. To do that, I'm preparing well from the final training. "I want to be a pitcher who can be trusted and used in the team next year," he said.