Can there be a ‘light speed ball baton touch’?
The biggest hit product in the first half of the 2023 season for the Hanwha Eagles is Moon Dong-ju (20), who started playing full-time as a starting pitcher. Moon Dong-ju recorded 6 wins and 6 losses and an ERA of 3.47 in 16 games (83 innings) in the first half, reliably serving as an axis of the starting lineup.
Moon Dong-ju was evaluated as a top-notch prospect by throwing a fast ball that exceeded 155 km/h since high school. He started to show his potential this season, and on April 12th, against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju, he threw a 160.1 km/h light speed ball, drawing attention from baseball fans.
Moon Dong-ju will keep the starting rotation for ‘for the time being’ in the second half and add strength to the team’s mid-table fight. However, an early ‘season out’ has already been announced. Hanwha has already decided to put a ‘restriction’ on Moon Dong-joo’s performance this season in order to ‘protect promising players’. Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho said, “Moon Dong-ju will start for about 7 games in the second half,” and “I will finish the season after throwing up to 120 innings.” According to this, Moon Dong-ju is expected to finish the 2023 season before September.
Hanwha has to fill a spot in the starting lineup that Moon Dong-joo will miss, with another pitcher. Currently, several candidates are being discussed in the Futures (second team) team, but the pitcher that is receiving the most attention is by far the rookie Kim Seo-hyun (19).
Kim Seo-hyun is a top-notch prospect who, like Moon Dong-ju, throws a ball that is faster than 155 km/h. In the first half, he played as a bullpen pitcher and had an ERA of 5.60, but in the Futures League, he started against the Goyang Heroes on the 6th and pitched 5.2 innings, striking out 7 and giving up 1 run.토토사이트
Kim Seo-hyun, along with Jang Min-jae, is the most likely pitcher to enter Hanwha’s first-team starting rotation in the second half. If Kim Seo-hyun enters the starting rotation in the second half and works stably with Moon Dong-ju, ‘light speed ball baton touch’ is possible after September. I wonder if Hanwha’s ideal scenario of ‘Moon Dong-ju in the first half – Kim Seo-hyun in the second half’ will be completed as desired.