Why did Kim Min-hyuk, who hit a total of 71 home runs in the Futures League, end up with only 9 home runs in the Doosan first team?
Kim Min-hyuk's case does not simply end with the story of having good performance in the minor leagues and poor in the major leagues. Based on the records, we will examine the difference between his slugging power in the Futures League and his adaptability to the KBO League, and why predictions of his parting ways with Doosan after the end of the 2026 season emerged.
Kim Min-hyuk's core issue was his contact hitting in the first team rather than his slugging power.
Kim Min-hyuk demonstrated the power to hit for extra bases in the Futures League, but his timing and contact were not consistent in the first team. Therefore, the key to the current evaluation is not so much the presence or absence of power-hitting qualities. The ability to produce a hit in every at-bat against a first-team pitcheris in.
As of September 16, 2026, his career Futures League statistics are 522 games, a batting average of .292, 71 home runs, 320 RBIs, and an OPS of .847. In contrast, his career KBO League statistics are 120 games, a batting average of .219, 9 home runs, and 34 RBIs, clearly showing the gap between the two leagues.
The prediction that he may part ways with Doosan after the season is an analysis based on these differences in performance. However, it must be distinguished that this is a forecast based on trends up to the 2026 season, rather than a release or contract termination announced by the club.
| division | game | batting average | homer | RBIs | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Futures League career total | 522 | 0.292 | 71 | 320 | 0.847 |
| KBO League career total | 120 | 0.219 | 9 | 34 | No data presented |
| 2026 Futures season | 81 | 0.255 | 2 | 30 | 0.651 |
There was a reason Doosan had been expecting this for a long time.
![Data showing the physical attributes of Kim Min-hyuk, who was drafted by Doosan in [year], and expectations for the next core lineup.](https://goodlifetips.co.kr/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-379.png)
After graduating from Gwangju Dongseong High School, Kim Min-hyuk was selected by Doosan in the second round, 16th overall pick, of the 2015 rookie draft. His physical attributes at the time were listed as 188cm tall and 100kg in weight, and he was evaluated as having the physique to develop into a key right-handed hitter.
First base and designated hitter are positions where the power to hit the ball far is crucial. Thanks to the powerful hits produced by his large physique and his home run production in the Futures League, Kim Min-hyuk was mentioned as a candidate for the next cleanup hitter and drew attention whenever the team lacked slugging power.
However, physical condition and slugging power in the minor leagues are merely indicators of potential, not a report card that guarantees a starting spot in the major leagues. Especially for a player with limited defensive position options, they must prove consistent productivity at the plate to survive the competition for a roster spot.
His slugging percentage in the Futures League and his record in the first team were significantly different.
Looking solely at Kim Min-hyuk's career record in the Futures League, there was reason to have high expectations. With 71 home runs in 522 games and an OPS of 0.847, he was a hitter who consistently demonstrated offensive production, including slugging power, in the minor leagues.
However, his career statistics in the first team are a batting average of .219, 9 home runs, and 34 RBIs. The ability to hit hard that he demonstrated in the second team was not replicated with the same frequency against first-team pitchers, and as a result, he struggled to keep up at the plate before capitalizing on his extra-base hits.
If you place the two records side by side, you can see Kim Min-hyuk's strengths and limitations at the same time. The fact that it was difficult to expect the same number of home runs from the second team to be maintained in the first team.This is the criterion that distinguishes the result of Doosan's long wait from its current prospects.
What Kim Min-hyuk needs is not so much to build new slugging power, but rather to secure the contact ability to hold his own at the plate until a slugging hit comes out.
The upward trend in 2022 did not lead to securing a starting position.
The year 2022 was when Kim Min-hyuk showed the most distinct potential. In 38 games that year, he recorded a batting average of .284, 5 home runs, and 16 RBIs, demonstrating his ability to produce extra-base hits even with limited playing time.
In particular, he showed even stronger form in the last 10 games of the season, with a batting average of .371, 3 home runs, and 10 RBIs. Although it was a short period, he left the impression that he can change the flow of the game when his batting form improves, and expectations for the next season have also grown.
The problem is that the upward trend did not continue for a long period. While the explosive power over 10 games is a clear advantage, to become a regular in the first team, one must maintain batting average and on-base opportunities even when opposing pitchers change their approach, but it did not reach that stage.
The limitations became more pronounced in 2025 and 2026.
In the first 14 games of 2025 in the first team, Kim Min-hyuk's OPS was 0.297, and he was subsequently sent down to the second team. At the time, Acting Manager Cho Sung-hwan acknowledged his ability to hit hard but assessed that his contact rate in the first team was on the low side.
This evaluation is significant in that it did not view Kim Min-hyuk's problem as solely a lack of power. It suggested that he needs to make his batting form more concise to increase the frequency of contact with the ball, which implies that he must improve the reproducibility of his swing when responding to fastballs and breaking balls.
His Futures League record for the 2026 season is 81 games, a batting average of .255, 2 home runs, 30 RBIs, and an OPS of .651. Compared to the short-term surge in 2022, his slugging metrics were not prominent enough to strongly assert his competitiveness in the first team again, and too much time has passed to continue waiting for Kim Min-hyuk, born in 1996, simply because he is a prospect.
Doosan's Choice and the Task Remaining for Kim Min-hyuk
The first base and designated hitter positions that Kim Min-hyuk is competing for require power hitting. Within Doosan's limited roster, he must prove himself at the plate rather than trying to expand his playing opportunities through defense or baserunning in order to consistently remain on the first team.
Therefore, the prospect of parting ways with Doosan after the season is not a conclusion reached solely based on the number of home runs. As career slugging percentage in the Futures League, a career batting average of 0.219 in the first team, an OPS of 0.297 in early 2025, and a Futures OPS of 0.651 in 2026 accumulate in succession... At a point where immediate utility has become more important than potentialThe analysis that... has gained traction.
However, there is no need to conclude that Kim Min-hyuk's potential for long hits has vanished. If he maintains his strengths of increasing his contact rate with a concise swing and producing hard-hit balls, there is still room for him to regain a role in other opportunities.
Ultimately, Kim Min-hyuk's next task is not a bigger swing, but a swing that makes contact more often. Regardless of what decision Doosan makes after the end of the 2026 season, the most direct criteria that will change his future evaluation will be his reproducibility at the plate in the first team and his consistent contact.