Another fireballer is likely to roll into the Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball. It will focus on nominations after the second round as the second most comfortable one than the overall first.
Baseball is paying keen attention to the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft, which will be held at Lotte Hotel World Crystal Ballroom in Seoul at 2 p.m. on the 11th. Kiwoom, which was ranked 10th in the previous year and had the first overall pick, is expected to become the main character of the draft by securing a total of six picks by the third round through two trades.
Kiwoom will choose the No. 1 overall pick, which draws the most attention. While Deoksu High School left-hander Chung Hyeon-woo and Jeon High School right-hander Jung Woo-joo are competing as “two-top,” Kiwoom seems to be leaning toward Chung Hyeon-woo. Chung Hyeon-woo, a more complete pitcher than Jung Woo-joo, is a customized resource due to the Kiwoom team’s lack of left-handers.
Kiwoom, which is likely to be the last in the 10th place again this year, is likely to exercise the first overall pick in next year’s rookie draft. The weight has been tilted toward Jung Hyun-woo, who has a relatively more scarce value because right-handed fastball prospects can come out again.
Chung Hyeon-woo is likely to be nominated by Kiwoom’s team situation, but Jung Woo-joo is not a prospect who is behind him. Rather, when the potential bursts, Hanwha, which has Moon Dong-ju and Kim Seo-hyun, is waiting for another right-handed fastball designation.
Right-handed orthodox pitcher Jung Woo-joo, who has a physique of 185 centimeters and 88 kilograms, recorded four wins and one loss with an earned run average of 1.57 in 16 high school games this year. His ball power was overwhelming, as he struck out 80 during 45.2 innings, reaching 15.8 per nine innings. He received a lot of love from Major League teams, but decided to challenge himself in the KBO League.
He throws the fastest ball among high school pitchers this year. He throws the ball at 150 kilometers per hour easily, even though he is not a tightrope ball. The maximum speed was measured up to 156 kilometers per hour, and he also threw the maximum 154 kilometers per hour fastball at the Asian Youth Baseball Championship held in Taiwan last week. His fastball speeds reach up to 2,700 revolutions per minute, which makes him feel as if he is standing in front of home plate.
Though not as big as Moon Dong-ju (188 centimeters 97 kilograms) and Kim Seo-hyun (188 centimeters 86 kilograms), he is constantly growing tall, which is expected to enable him to make the most of his fastballs in better physical condition if he receives systematic training from professional baseball players. Fireball pitchers have few difficulties in controlling ball control that catches up with. However, there is no proper breaking ball that can be used as a pro right now, and if he is trained as a starting pitcher, he should have a stamina, which can be supplemented by gaining experience.
Hanwha has been making progress in fostering right-handed fastball pitchers. Moon Dong-ju, who was selected as the first national designation in 2022, became the first KBO league pitcher to throw “official” 160-km fastball, becoming the first KBO league pitcher to establish himself as the main starting pitcher. He received the Rookie of the Year award last year, and struggled in the first half this year due to scapular pain, but rebounded in the second half.
Another 160-km pitcher Kim Seo-hyun, who joined the team as the first overall pick in the first round last year, also experienced severe growth due to frequent changes in his pitching form and poor control of his ball, but he broke his eggs from the second half of this year and grew into a must-win group. If Jung Woo-joo joins the team, Hanwha will become the best fastball corps in the KBO league 토토사이트.
For the Hanwha Eagles, the team is under much less pressure than it was at this time last year. At the 2024 KBO Rookie Draft held in September last year, Hanwha picked Jangchung High School and left-hander Hwang Jun-seo as the first overall pick in the first round. Hwang, who had been on the youth national team since his sophomore year, was immediately evaluated as exuberant, and was suitable for the formation of the Hanwha team, which lacks left-hander pitchers. Kim Taek-yeon, a right-hander from Incheon who played as the ace player in the youth team, grew tremendously, but he could not change the trend. Kim was picked by Doosan as the second overall pick.
Looking at the first season of this year, Hanwha can hardly afford to make the decision. Kim has displayed impressive performance in 56 games (60 ⅓ innings), with three wins, two losses and 17 saves, four holds, and an earned run average of 2.09 strikeouts. With strong fastballs, he instantly became the finishing pitcher for Doosan, and posted the record of the most saves among high school graduates. Hwang, on the other hand, has been struggling with 30 games (11 starts, 67 innings) with two wins, eight losses and one hold, and an earned run average of 5.37 strikeouts. He played in the starting rotation in the early days of this season, but has seen his strength wane gradually decline, as he is realizing that he is a professional.
However, the first season is only passing now. Although Kim Taek-yeon’s performance is very fast, Hwang Joon-seo also showed great potential before his physical stamina declined this year. As we have confirmed the complementary points, if we take a solid development process, we can grow into a left-handed starter that Hanwha expects. However, due to the disappointment of the immediate outcome, some analysts say prematurely that Hanwha has opted to opt out of Kim Taek-yeon a year ago. In this regard, it is certainly comfortable to exercise the right to nominate Kim while waiting for Kiwoom to make the decision this year.