[시사포커스 / 이근우 기자] Kim Gwang-hyun (33, St. Louis Cardinals) returns from a back injury and starts in a demonstration game.
St. Louis coach Mike Silt said through a video interview with local media on the 26th (Korean time), “Kim Kwang-hyun will appear in a demonstration game against the Miami Marlins on the 28th. I will digest 2 to 3 innings and check the condition of my body.”
Earlier, Kim Gwang-hyun was sluggish with 10 hits in 3 innings, 3 walks and 8 runs (7 ERA) in the 2021 season’s two major league demonstration matches. Compared to the pitching he showed last year, he couldn’t pitch a threat to hitters. On the 14th, the third demonstration game was delayed due to back pain.
Kim Gwang-hyun, who returned to pitching training after starting a light catchball on the 16th, got a chance to start a demonstration game by playing bullpen pitching twice on the 19th and 21st and throwing 2 innings in the simulation game on the 23rd.
On April 2nd, St. Louis will enter the 2021 season, starting with the match against the Cincinnati Reds, and this demonstration game is expected to become Kim Gwang-hyun’s last demonstration game. I had to play a lot of innings to determine whether to join the starting rotation, but I focused on checking the condition of my body after returning from the injury.
Recently, Silt has been declining Kim Gwang-hyun as a starting pitcher rather than appointing him in the bullpen, so it is highly likely that he will return to the starting rotation by increasing innings without excessive in the demonstration game.
Meanwhile, it is known that Silt has not decided whether to put Kim Gwang-hyun as the starting position or as a bullpen in the demonstration game.