Kim Yoon-ha (20) of the professional baseball team Kiwoom Heroes has showcased strong performances in back-to-back exhibition games.

On the 17th, Kim Yoon-ha started the game against the Lotte Giants at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League,' recording a victory with 5 innings pitched, 4 hits allowed, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 1 earned run.

In the top of the first inning, Kim Yoon-ha, who recorded a ground ball out against lead-off hitter Hwang Seong-bin, faced a crisis with one out and a runner on second base after allowing a double to Go Seung-min. Son Ho-young caught a fly ball in left field, but Kim allowed a 1-RBI single to Victor Reyes, giving up the first run. Na Seung-yeop finished the inning by inducing a fly ball to center field.

In the second inning, Kim Yoon-ha got lead-off hitter Yoon Dong-hee to ground out to shortstop. Although he allowed a hit to Jeon Jun-woo, he induced a 6-4-3 double play from Yoo Gang-nam to end the inning without issue. In the third inning, he retired Park Seung-wook, Hwang Seong-bin, and Go Seung-min for a perfect inning.

In the fourth inning, Kim Yoon-ha retired lead-off hitter Son Ho-young with a ground ball to second base. He then recorded two quick outs by catching a fly ball from Reyes in left field. Although Na Seung-yeop walked, he retired Yoon Dong-hee with a fly ball to right field, finishing the inning without significant trouble. In the fifth inning, he struck out lead-off hitter Jeon Jun-woo, allowed a hit to Yoo Gang-nam, but struck out Park Seung-wook and prevented Yoo Gang-nam from stealing second, quickly ending the inning. Kim handed the mound over to Son Hyun-ki in the 6th inning, leading 2-1, and finished his appearance. Kiwoom won 4-3, extending their winning streak to two.

Kim Yoon-ha threw 64 pitches, utilizing his fastball (32 pitches), forkball (17 pitches), and curveball (15 pitches). His fastball reached a maximum velocity of 146 km/h. While his strike percentage was not particularly high at 60.3%, he managed to engage in tough battles with hitters when necessary, only giving up one walk. In the exhibition games, he recorded a successful season preparation with a performance of 2 wins and an earned run average of 2.00 over 9 innings in 2 games.

In a post-game interview, Kim Yoon-ha said, "Since today was my last appearance before the regular season, I tried to throw more breaking balls instead of focusing on fastballs as I had before. However, when I tried to throw the forkball hard, some pitches missed the strike zone. It seems that my breaking ball still needs improvement. After the game, I did additional pitching practice to refine my forkball."

Kim Yoon-ha, who joined Kiwoom with the 9th pick in the first round of the 2024 rookie draft, became a major topic of discussion as the nephew of ‘Korean Express’ Park Chan-ho. Although he recorded a less-than-stellar performance last season with 1 win, 6 losses, and 2 holds over 19 games (79 innings) and an earned run average of 6.04, he showed potential as a starting pitcher by throwing 7 innings in 4 games and 6 innings in 2 games. Expectations are high for him to perform well as a third starter this season.

"I feel good condition-wise," said Kim Yoon-ha. "I believe if I pitch with the same focus as I have now, I will achieve good results in the season. I don't feel any pressure about being a full-time starter. I'm preparing as I did in the second half of last year."

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