If Moon Dong-ju (Hanhwa), who is considered the best prospect among new pitchers in the KBO League, and An Woo-jin (Kiwoom), who is regarded as the best pitcher in the league, face off as starting pitchers in the opening game, it will be a huge topic of discussion.메이저사이트
In the opening game of this season, Hanwha and Kiwoom will face off at Gocheok Dome in Seoul. In Kiwoom, if there are no special variables, it is likely that Ahn Woo-jin will be the starting pitcher for the opening game. For Hanwha, head coach Subero selects the opening game selection among domestic pitchers. Moon Dong-ju, who has already thrown a 156km fastball in practice games, is also one of the starting pitcher candidates for the opening game.
Moon Dong-ju, who made his professional debut last year, is highly anticipated for his second year. He is poised to break out all the performances he couldn’t properly show last year due to an injury, all at once this year.
On the 20th (hereafter Korean time), Moon Dong-ju showed impressive pitching in a practice match against the Dutch World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team held at Salt River Field in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
Moon Dong-ju took the mound as the starting pitcher and boasted two perfect pitches. No hits, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, no run. Didi Gregorius, Vladimir Valentin, Andrelton Simmons and Roger Verdanina dominated the Dutch national team. Bernardina is a member of the 2017 KIA Korean Series championship. Moon Dong-ju overwhelmed the Dutch lineup with a powerful fastball with a maximum distance of 156 km and an average of 152 km. He was good with his changeup and slider breaking ball.
Moon Dong-ju fell short of expectations last year with an average ERA of 5.65 with 1 win and 3 losses in 13 games (28.2 innings). He made his professional debut only in May after getting injured at the camp, and after playing as a relief pitcher in early June, he suffered a shoulder injury and spent about three months in rehabilitation. He showed his potential with a 3.00 earned run average with 1 win and 2 losses in 3 starts (15 innings) since September.
Moon Dong-ju, whom I met at the Arizona camp in the United States, said, “Last year, I think I showed a little bit of myself at the end. I didn’t show a perfect figure, but I gained momentum from showing such pitching, and I think there will be good synergy when starting at the beginning of this season.”
When asked to pick starting pitchers for the opening game, coach Subero mentioned three pitchers: “Kim Min-woo, Moon Dong-ju, and Jang Min-jae.” If Moon Dong-ju showed good pitching even in the demonstration game, it would not be impossible to be selected for the opening game.
An Woo-jin became the best starting pitcher in the KBO League last year. He appeared in 30 games (196 innings) last year and recorded an average ERA of 2.11 with a record of 15 wins and 8 losses, and won two division titles with an ERA and strikeouts (224). His 224 strikeouts were just one short of the league record (225K).
An Woo-jin, who threw close to 200 innings in the regular season, continued his power throwing with an average ERA of 2.03 in 5 games (26⅔ innings) in the postseason. He won the Golden Glove and was rated as the best pitcher.
An Woo-jin was the starting pitcher in the opening game for the first time in his professional debut last year. He did his part with 2 runs in 6 innings and a quality start against Lotte, but was replaced when he was trailing 1-2 and became the losing pitcher.
I wonder if the match between Moon Dong-ju and Ahn Woo-jin, who throw fastballs close to 160km, will be the best big match for baseball fans.