grapplegraphics.com The pain of coming in last place for three years in a row is being reborn as hope. The Hanwha Eagles mound, which has a ‘160 km per hour fireballer duo’, has become more diverse and improved with the addition of ‘150 km per hour left-hander’ Hwang Jun-seo (18, Jangchung High School).
Hanwha selected left-hander Hwang Jun-seo, a third-year student at Jangchung High School, as the first overall pick in the 2024 KBO rookie draft held at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul at 2 p.m. on the 14th.
The result was as expected. At the 2023 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup (World Youth Baseball Championship), which ended earlier this month, Incheon High School right-hander Kim Taek-yeon (18) increased his value by being selected as a relief pitcher all-star, but Hanwha did not waver. After the draft, Hanwha commented, “Overall, it was a satisfactory draft because we selected the players the club wanted. We strengthened our left-handed mound depth by consecutively selecting excellent left-handed pitchers such as Hwang Jun-seo and Cho Dong-wook (Jang Chung-go) in the upper rounds.”
Hwang Jun-seo is a major prospect who has been attracting attention as a left-hander who will represent Korea since his sophomore year. With a fast ball of up to 150 km/h, the curve and splitter are the main weapons, and the slider is also gradually starting to be used in practice. This year, as a junior, he had a successful year with 15 games, 6 wins, 2 losses, an average ERA of 2.16, 17 walks with 17 walks (16 walks, 1 body hit), and 58 strikeouts in 49⅔ innings. In his high school career, he had 31 games, 9 wins, 4 losses, and an average ERA of 1.93, 112⅓. He left a record of 132 strikeouts per inning.
Among this year’s draftees, he is the only player who can throw a ball faster than 150 km/h, so it is easy to focus on his speed, but his stable control is more of an advantage. He had excellent command of putting all pitches where he wanted, inside or outside the strike zone, and showed that he induced many missed swings from opposing hitters.
He also has some points to improve. Since the level of perfection of breaking balls such as sliders to deal with left-handed batters is not yet high, the frequency of being targeted increases as the batting order progresses. However, his physique is not yet complete, and if he succeeds in increasing his velocity and adding decisive pitches and pitch types, he has the potential to grow into a left-handed starting pitcher that will represent the league.
If so, Hanwha will be able to form a five-man starting rotation that can throw at least 150 km per hour, which was close to impossible in the KBO League. Usually, foreign pitchers tend to bring in players who throw fastballs over 150 km/h, and ironically, this possibility arose due to poor performance, ranking last for three years in a row.
Hanwha, which ranked last in the league with 46 wins, 3 draws, and 95 losses in 2020, selected right-hander Moon Dong-ju (20) from Gwangju Promotion High School. Moon Dong-ju, who debuted last year, went through an adjustment period and recorded 8 wins and 8 losses in 23 games this year, an ERA of 3.72, and 95 strikeouts in 118⅔ innings, becoming the country’s No. 1 starter. He was also selected for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games national team, showing his potential as the next generation Korean representative right-handed ace. I was recognized.
In particular, in the Gwangju KIA game on April 12, he threw a ball at 160.1 km per hour against Park Chan-ho in the bottom of the first inning, based on the Sports to Eye Pitch Tracking System (PTS), the KBO’s official record statistics company. For the first time as a domestic pitcher in the KBO League’s first team, Moon Dong-ju ushered in the era of 160 kilometers per hour.
Hanwha, which ranked last with 49 wins, 12 draws, and 83 losses in 2021, secured one more pitcher who can throw 160 km per hour.토토사이트 The main character is Seoul High School right-hander Kim Seo-hyeon (19), who debuted this year and had no wins or losses in 20 games, only 1 save and an ERA of 7.25. However, Kim Seo-hyun also showed potential in the first team by throwing a fast ball at a maximum speed of 157 km/h according to PTS and striking out 26 times in 22⅓ innings.
With the addition of Hwang Jun-seo, Hanwha was fully prepared to rebuild its pitching team at once. Unlike the United States and Japan, it is a rare piece of luck in Korea, where pitchers who can throw over 150 kilometers per hour are rare.
Mind and work skills are also acceptable. After the draft, Hwang Jun-seo introduced himself, saying, “I think I am a pitcher whose strengths are his control and game management ability. I have the ability to easily deal with batters and strike out people,” and added, “It doesn’t matter the position. I will be the player you look for in a crisis.” “I want to win. Team victory comes first rather than personal goals. I will throw hard so that the team can go as high as possible,” he said with a strong determination.