The first confrontation of the season between the KIA Tigers and the Hanwha Eagles, which took place on the 11th, was a miserable match followed by an erroneous defense and empty ta. Even Hanwha, who won (score 5-4), was unable to laugh.
In the second game on the 12th, there were quite a few interesting points to watch.
First of all, pitcher Moon Dong-joo, a sophomore at Hanwha, took the mound and pitched well. He is from Gwangju Jinheung High School. In 2021, he was recognized as the best high school pitcher at the time, but KIA nominated Kim Do-young, another player from the local area, in the first draft. Pitchers who throw fastballs continue to appear, but it was judged that infielders with the potential of ‘5-tool players’ are of great rarity value.
This choice is unlikely to be judged right away. What is clear is that Moon Dong-ju, who has grown a step from his debut season (2022), drew attention just by appearing in the KIA match for the first time, and even in the Gwangju expedition.
Here, Moon Dong-ju set a record that clearly reveals his identity as a pitcher. At the end of the first inning, the 3rd four-seam fastball (fastball) thrown in a match with second hitter Park Chan-ho recorded a speed of 160.1 km/h, breaking the record for the highest speed by a Korean pitcher in the KBO League. The previous record was 158.7 km/h set by Choi Dae-seong, who belonged to the Lotte Giants in 2012. Moon Dong-joo was hit by Lee Woo-sung at the right time in the second inning and gave up 2 runs, but he fought hard without any additional runs until the 6th inning and made a quality start (6 innings or more and 3 earned runs or less) for the first time in his debut.
KIA starting pitcher Sean Anderson threw better than Moon Dong-ju. He pitched 7 innings with 3 hits, 1 walk and no runs, fulfilling the requirements for a winning pitcher. In the match against Chae Eun-seong, who was leading the league in RBI by hitting a home run the day before, he induced a hit all three times. Likewise, Kim Tae-yeon and Kim In-hwan, who had a good sense of hitting, also struck out and completely blocked them.
A confrontation between pitcher Han Seung-hyuk (Hanhwa) and hitter Byun Woo-hyuk (KIA), who exchanged uniforms in a trade last winter, also took place. Han Seung-hyuk came out at the bottom of the 7th inning as Hanwha’s second pitcher, and Byun Woo-hyuk stood at bat as the lead batter.
Han Seung-hyuk took off his hat before pitching and greeted the cheering seats on the 1st and 3rd bases in turn. He played as a member of the ‘tiger corps’ for 10 years, and it was a sore finger that did not release his potential. KIA fans greeted Han Seung-hyuk with a big round of applause.
In the match against Byun Woo-hyuk, Han Seung-hyuk won. Han Seung-hyeok is also the league’s representative fastball pitcher. After showing a 153 km/h fastball, he pulled out a swing with a slider.
KIA won with the strength of the pitching staff. In the defense at the beginning of the 8th inning with a 2-0 lead, setup man Sang-Hyeon Jeon scored no runs, and Hae-Young Jeong overcame the crisis with 2 outs on 1st and 2nd base and won the save with no runs. KIA finished the game without conceding for the first time in the season. 스포츠토토