The NC Dinos have an emergency in their catching staff. The Dinos have lost Park Se-hyuk and second baseman Ahn Jung-yeol to injury. This puts a heavy burden on the shoulders of Kim Hyung-jun, who was selected as a catcher for the Hangzhou Asian Games team.

NC made changes to the first team roster on the 28th. Ahn Jung-yeol was removed from the first team roster. 바카라사이트 Ahn Joong-yeol was injured during the game against the Changwon LG on Nov. 27.

With runners on first and second in the fourth inning, Ahn laid down a sacrifice bunt that rolled in front of the third baseman and became a double play. After laying down the bunt, Ahn sprinted all the way to first base, where he felt pain in his thigh.

He was replaced by Kim Hyung-jun in the fifth inning. At the time, an NC official said, “Ahn Joong-yeol felt discomfort in his right adductor muscle while running the bases in the fourth inning and was replaced.” In the end, it seems that the residual injury required treatment and rehabilitation for more than 10 days.

NC catcher Ahn Jung-yeol / OSEN DB

NC dropped Park Se-hyuk from its first-team roster on Nov. 14 due to severe left wrist pain that required rehabilitation time.

Head coach Kang Myung-ho said about Park’s physical condition last weekend, “He hasn’t been able to do technical training yet. It will take some time for him to return.”

NC lost free agent Yang Yang-ji to Doosan last winter and signed free agent Park Se-hyuk for up to 4.6 billion won ($4.6 million) over four years, and when the free agent shortstop left to sign a four-year, 5 billion won deal with Lotte, they brought in Ahn Joong-yeol as a compensation player.

The team has been operating under the Park-Se-hyuk and Ahn-Joong-yeol system this season, but both players will be dropped from the roster. NC will have to settle for Park Dae-on and Kim Hyung-jun for the time being.

NC catcher Park Se-hyuk / OSEN DB

A lot of attention will be paid to the performance of prospect Kim Hyung-jun, who was selected in the second first round (9th overall) of the 2018 rookie draft. He was selected to the Asian Games team in early June, and was called up to the first team on June 23 after playing in the second team.

Kim underwent surgery for a torn ACL in his right knee at the end of August last year before being discharged from the team. He rehabilitated and played in a second team game in mid-May. At the end of May, he felt unwell again and took a month off before returning to action in early July.

Kim Hyung-jun made his debut in the first game of the season against the SSG in Incheon on July 24, hitting back-to-back home runs against foreign pitcher McCarty. In the three-game series against LG on the 26th and 27th, he was a substitute.

In four games since his call-up, he is batting 4-for-9 (7 RBI) with two home runs, two doubles, two RBI, and an OPS of 1.786. But it’s more about his defense than his hitting, especially his pitching. He missed spring training due to rehabilitation, and after returning from injury, he only played in the second team, so he hasn’t had a chance to work with the first team pitchers.

NC catcher Kim Hyung-jun/Courtesy of the NC Dinos

He made one substitute appearance against SSG on April 24, when starting pitcher Lee Jae-hak pitched, and played five innings against LG on April 27, when he was replaced by Ahn Jung-yeol due to an injury.

“He hasn’t had much experience with bullpen pitchers, so he’s been communicating a lot with them (in practice),” Kang said.

Kim’s talent is there. He was drafted by NC in the first round of the second round, and Kang said, “He has enough qualities as a catcher. He’s had good ability since he was a rookie. However, he didn’t play much because of injuries. I don’t think there are many players in the KBO who have that kind of ability.”

With the spate of injuries to catchers, Kim is likely to see more playing time.

NC catcher Kim Hyung-joon/Courtesy of NC Dinos