Fingers crossed out for the time being. Fortunately, he avoided a fracture

He was making good use of the difficult opportunity, but he was stopped for a while due to a sudden dune. NC Dinos infielder Kim Han-byul (23) was removed from the first division due to injury.
NC adjusted its entry ahead of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League away game (cancellation of rain) against SSG Landers scheduled to be held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 5th, excluding Kim Han-byul from the first team and calling up rookie infielder Kim Se-hoon (19) instead.

The reason Kim Han-byul was canceled was because of his injury. At a match against the SSG held on the previous day (April 4), he started as the ninth batter and shortstop of his team, and recorded one hit in three times at bat in four times at bat. He stepped down as an error in his first two at-bats, but survived through an infield hit to the shortstop when he was leading by a point in the top of the sixth inning with no out and a runner on the first base. He also added a run when Park Kun-woo made a timely two-run hit.

However, at the next batter's box, Kim suffered an unexpected injury. Appearing at the second base with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, he was hit in the hand by SSG Choi Min-joon's second fastball. He was hit in the right hand, not the left hand with the guard.

Kim Han-byul, who immediately joined hands and complained of pain, was replaced by pinch runner Kim Ju-won and returned to the dugout. Kim immediately went to the hospital, but as it took more than five hours to wait, he eventually moved to the next day for an examination.

According to an NC official, Kim Han-byeol did not have a fracture. However, he was diagnosed with a bruised right middle finger and laceration of nails, and sutures were performed on the wounded area. A club official said, "We plan to remove seams and re-medicate in two weeks. It is difficult to do batting or defensive training, but muscle training is possible."

Kim Han-byul's departure is painful for NC at this point. He started this season as a backup for his flagship shortstop Kim Ju-won, but has been taking advantage of the opportunities amid Kim's slump. As of Friday, he played in 18 games, recording a batting average of 0.370 (10 hits in 27 times at bat), six runs scored with two RBIs and a 0.859 OPS. Notably, he strongly hit the game against SSG on Sunday by making three hits, one RBI and two runs from five times at bat.

Kim Han-byul, who left Sun Lin-Joong and Bae Jae-Joong to join the 7th round of the second round of the 2020 season's rookie draft, brightened his prospects by resolving his mandatory military service early on. In 2022, he gained great experience by playing in the KBO Futures All-Star Game and the 2022 World Baseball Softball Confederation U-23 Baseball World Cup. Last year, he appeared in 79 games, the most since his debut, and when Kim Joo-won was drafted to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, he was the starting pitcher.

In particular, Kim Joo-won, who was expected to grow further this year, slowed down with a batting average of 0.179 until the 5th, further increasing the role of Kim Han-byul to support his back. Therefore, the injury at this point caused even more regret. Although the batting is somewhat weak, it was not inferior to the main player Kim Joo-won in defense.

First, Kim will monitor his conditions for two weeks before starting his training depending on circumstances. As he needs to boost his sense of play in the main league, his return to the main league games will likely be further postponed.

As of Thursday, NC is ranking second with 22 wins and 13 losses (0.629 win rate) in this season, one game behind the leader of the Kia Tigers. With even one more player joining the team, the injury of the player who was playing the role of "altern" will remain regrettable.
 

BY: 토토