JTBC’s baseball entertainment program “The Greatest Baseball” was full of cold winds.
A total of 110 players were selected at the 2025 professional baseball rookie draft held at Lotte Hotel’s World Crystal Ballroom in southern Seoul on Sunday. A total of 1,197 people were eligible for the rookie draft, including 840 high school graduates, 286 college graduates, 56 early draft applicants, and 15 other players from overseas, amateur and professional backgrounds. The employment rate is 9.2 percent. None of the 15 players who participated in the KBO tryout, which drew keen attention, were selected. Not only that, but the “strongest baseball challengers” also failed.
Since the start of the program, the strongest baseball teams have displayed “surprise nominations” in the rookie draft. Last year, Chung Hyeon-su (Lotte Giants, 13th in the second round), Hwang Young-mook (Hanwha Eagles, 31st in the fourth round), and Ko Young-woo (Kium Heroes, 39th in the fourth round) also wore professional uniforms. As recognition accumulated through the program had a significant impact on the nomination, the team acted as a weapon to break through the narrow employment door. As several players joined the team, attention was paid to the results of the draft. The results were harsh. Infielder Moon Kyo-won (Inha University), pitcher Lee Yong-hun (Sungkyunkwan University), catcher Ko Dae-han (Dongwon University), infielder Yoo Tae-woong (Dongwon University), and others tried, but none of them were called out.
In particular, Moon’s failure is drawing attention. Moon’s record in this year’s college league was 0.431 batting average (28 hits in 65 at-bats), three homers and 20 RBIs in 17 games 스포츠토토. It was a hot topic of conversation as Kim Sung-keun was informed to participate in the training session in the strongest baseball league. “He has good batting ability, has a shoulder that can throw over 140 kilometers per hour even when he is a pitcher, and he is quick on his feet,” Moon said in an appearance on Jeong Geun-woo’s personal broadcast recently. “As a player, I think personality is also important, and I can be a player who does not harm the team.” He also said that he is a good worker with good work ethic. However, he was not very attractive to professional baseball teams.
A club official said, “I think it means the evaluation of the players was cool-headed. The fact that not all clubs selected players means that the evaluation of the players was similar.”