Moon Dong-ju (20), the future of the Hanwha mound and also the treasure of the KBO League, blamed himself for not being able to perform even 20% last year during the Arizona camp in February. He said he was unprepared. He was determined to fill the remaining 80% this year.
He was a fast player with an innate ability to throw more than 150 km per hour and a quick learning ability. The coaching staff, including Hanwha coach Carlos Subero, as well as the front desk, highly evaluated Moon Dong-ju’s sponge-like learning ability. However, there was not much perspective to expect ‘regular innings’. In fact, as it is his first full-time season, it is expected that there will be twists and turns. It was the right plan from a conservative point of view.
At the time, Hanwha general manager Son Hyuk said, “There are two foreign players and Min-woo Kim as starters. The remaining two spots are, and I hope that young pitchers Dong-joo Moon and Ji-min Nam will combine to fill one spot.” Each of the two players can provide a place,” he said, expressing his plan to take steps. The logic was that the remaining one seat could be filled by a veteran player named Jang Min-jae and other players competing to enter the starting rotation.
However, Moon Dong-ju is showing signs of exceeding Hanwha’s expectations. The start of the season is so good. He made a clean start with 5 scoreless innings against Samsung in Daegu on the 6th, his first appearance of the season, and achieved the highest speed (160.1km) of a domestic player in the KBO League against KIA in Gwangju on the 12th, throwing 2 runs in 6 innings well. He was also his first quality start personally (with 3 earned runs or less in 6 or more innings of starts).
Of course, only the first two appearances have yet to be completed. No one knows what will happen in the future. However, the average earned run average (1.64) in the first two games of the season, the contents of the game, and the symbolic number of 160.1km tell us that he faithfully built his body throughout the winter and returned as a more developed pitcher. A green light came in for digestion of more than 100 innings. Considering that there are not as many starting pitchers in the league who can play more than 100 innings, it can be concluded that Hanwha can provide more than the ‘0.5 spot’ originally expected.
However, Moon Dong-ju is not the only person who is expected to exceed the target. Nam Ji-min (22), one of the members who expected the two to join together, also has a good pace. Although he conceded a goal in the match against SSG in Daejeon on the 8th, his aggressive attack on the strike zone caught the attention of the Hanwha coaching staff. Then, on the 11th, against KIA in Gwangju, he made everyone excited by pitching 5 scoreless innings.
Nam Ji-min is also a player who has been steadily fostered as a starter since last year. Director Subero’s confident analysis is that he went through many difficulties, but he definitely grew up in the process. Even if foreign pitcher Birch Smith, who is currently away due to injury, returns, there is room for concern about remaining in the rotation.
Jang Min-jae’s performance this season is good, and Kim Min-woo has been a player who has consistently played as a starter over the past period.스포츠토토 It’s very difficult to decide who goes down to the bullpen. However, Nam Man-man is a player who should play as a starter for the long term anyway. He has no reason to go to the bullpen unless he can stay up against his rivals and his pace isn’t bad. As such, if the two players achieve more than expected this year, the rebuilding of the Hanwha starting rotation may be completed 1-2 years earlier than originally thought.