This is Hyunsoo Kim from ‘News Plus’.
On the 14th, as many fans expected, Hwang Jun-seo was selected by the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 KBO League rookie draft.
Born in 2005, 187cm tall, weight 80kg. Junseo Hwang of Jangchung High School is a left-handed pitcher representing high school baseball.
Since his last year as a sophomore, he has already been noted for throwing fastballs in excess of 150 kilometers per hour.
He also has excellent ball control.
He appeared in 31 career high school baseball games, with a record of 9 wins, 4 losses, and an earned run average of 1.93.
He struck out 132 in 112 1/3 innings.
Some say that he could become the ‘second Kim Gwang-hyun’ due to his potential.
Let’s first hear the story of Hanwha Eagles general manager Son Hyuk and Hwang Jun-seo, who wore the Hanwha uniform, at the rookie draft last Thursday.
[Son Hyuk/Hanwha Eagles General Manager/Last 14th: “We will announce our nomination. Hanwha Eagles has Jangchung High School pitcher Hwang Jun-seo. Our scouts have recommended Hwang Jun-seo all year long.”] [Hwang Jun-seo/Jangchung High School baseball player/Last
14 Sun: “I still can’t believe it, and I’m so happy that my hands and feet are shaking right now. I will always do my best and work hard to become the player the team needs. Thank you.”] “Welcome to Han Jun-seo, I love you from today onwards.” In this way, fans also expressed Hanwha’s ‘Han’
. We welcome him by using his nickname, which is changed to Hwang Jun-seo’s last name.
Jang Hyun-seok, who was called the biggest player in high school baseball, decided to go to the American big league.
So this year’s rookie draft has become a two-top lineup between Hwang Jun-seo and Incheon High School’s Kim Taek-yeon.
In this year’s high school baseball, Kim Taek-yeon’s performance was slightly better than Hwang Jun-seo.
Nevertheless, it was already predicted in the baseball world that Hanwha’s choice would be Hwang Jun-seo.
This is because Moon Dong-ju and Kim Seo-hyun, who joined Hanwha last year and this year, are both right-handed pitchers.
Kim Taek-yeon had good results this season, but since he is a right-handed pitcher, they chose Hwang Jun-seo, a left-handed pitcher.
Hanwha selected Jo Dong-wook, an excellent left-handed pitcher, in the second round.
This can be interpreted as an intention to achieve balance between the left and right sides of the mound, which has been a challenge for Hanwha so far.
It is also interesting to note that Hwang Jun-seo played together with Kim Seo-hyun and Moon Hyun-bin, who previously joined Hanwha, as part of the national team at the Under-18 World Youth Baseball Championship last year.
Did these three people ever expect to play together on the same team?
In the KBO League rookie draft, player selection is given in reverse order of the previous season’s rankings.
Hanwha Eagles ranked last for three consecutive seasons.
We were also able to select the best players in high school baseball for three consecutive years.
First of all, Moon Dong-ju, who joined last year but was unable to play much due to an injury, recovered perfectly this year and showed himself often on the mound.안전놀이터
He is also a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year.
Kim Seo-hyun also gained experience in the first team by playing in 20 games this season.
With Hwang Jun-seo joining the team this time, could Hanwha be a little different next year?
[Choi Dong-ho/Sports Critic: “These are players who have been confirmed on the high school stage, and I think the biggest problem is how to nurture them well and develop players who will take responsibility for Hanwha’s future. The results of the rebuilding that has been done so far will probably be completed within the next year or so. Isn’t it time…”]
Hanwha’s current ranking is 8th, so it is highly likely that they will avoid last place this season.
“What about Daejeon if we win next year for the first time in 25 years?” “Daejeon explodes.” “First of all, we should aim for fifth place.” Fans also have such hopeful expectations.
On the one hand, “It seems like the league now has mid-level pitching ability. The biggest problem is offense and no matter how good the pitcher throws, the batting line should not be weak.” There are also comments like this.
Hanwha brought in the best new player for three consecutive years.
How to use them as a catalyst for a leap forward is also a task for the Hanwha Eagles.
Until now, it was ‘News Plus’.