Romantic or far-fetched... 122 pitches for 'high school rookie' debut → Summon baseball in the 1990s
Romantic or far-fetched... 122 pitches for 'high school rookie' debut → Summon baseball in the 1990s
Blog Article
Chung Hyun-woo (19, Kiwoom Heroes), the No. 1 player in the 2025 rookie draft, won his professional debut.메이저사이트
Chung started the game in Game 2 of three consecutive away games against the KIA Tigers in the 2025 KBO League held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Sunday, and allowed eight hits, seven walks, four strikeouts and six runs (four earned runs) during five innings. He pitched in five innings with 122 pitches, and Kiwoom won 17-10 to become the 12th high school graduate to earn a starting win in its debut game. However, the Kiwoom bench's choice of having a rookie pitcher throw 122 pitches left room for controversy.
Chung took the mound in the first inning without supporting his batters. He immediately realized the power of the "Defending Champion" lineup, which had been hot on the previous day by hitting five home runs against Kim Yoon-ha, his "one-year senior" on the previous day. Chung cut the leadoff batter Choi Won-joon through a foul fly to the third base, but Patrick Wisdom, the follow-up batter, hit a double on the left field, and allowed a ground ball RBI after giving up the third base by committing a wild pitch in the game against Na Sung-bum. In the ensuing match against Choi, Chung allowed a double to the right-center after his first four-seam fastball (pitch fastball) hit a single. Kim gave up a walk to Kim Sun-bin, and Lee Woo-sung, the follow-up, allowed a heavy hit next to the shortstop to give up one more point.
Kiwoom's batters supported four runs on offense in the top of the second inning, but Chung Hyeon-woo gave up two runs again in the bottom of the second inning. The first batter Kim Tae-gun was induced to ground out, but the same rookie Yeo Dong-wook, who played third base, committed a bad pitch. Chung Hyeon-woo seemed to overcome the crisis by groundering Yoon Do-hyun to the third base and also catching Choi Won-jun with a groundout, but he gave up consecutive walks to Wisdom and Na Sung-beom, who faced him for the second time, and allowed Choi Hyung-woo to hit a two-run right-handed hit.
The Kiwoom bench has shown its intention to strengthen Chung. He asked left-handed batter Choi Hyung-woo to play both the first and second pitches. Of course, it could be catcher Kim Jae-hyun's intention.
Chung Hyeon-woo, who has good control of the ball, placed the first pitch on a high course near the body where the catcher's mit was located. However, the second pitch was centered on the center, and Choi lowered his posture and made a technical hit, leading to a hit that separated the right side of the infield. With the situation continuing, Chung grounded out to Kim Seon-bin to end the second inning.
Kiwoom's batters won the game with two points in the top of the third inning and one point in the top of the fourth inning. As the score gap widened, the Kiwoom bench seemed to want to make Chung Hyeon-woo a winning pitcher requirement. When Chung Hyun-woo made a scoreless inning despite struggling in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, he also threw 93 pitches to the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Usually, starting pitchers take the mound for the first time in this season throw 80 at the most, or 90 at most, and finish their duties. Having struggled throughout the entire game, Chung said, "It would not have been strange if I changed the number of pitches after finishing the fourth inning. He is a rookie who has yet to estimate the appropriate number of pitches.
Chung is in danger after being hit to the left by Byun Woo-hyuk, the first batter, in the bottom of the fifth inning and a double to the center field against Yoon Do-hyun after one out. He pitched more than 100 times. Kia's top batters were waiting for him.
There was no substitution. Chung struck out Choi after a six-pitch match, but allowed a walk to Wisdom. Na Seong-bum, who faced off again at the risk of losing a point, hit a timely two-run homer to right. He allowed six runs. The gap was narrowed to 6-11, five points.
Against this backdrop, the Kiwoom bench let Chung one more out count. Chung finished five innings while handling Choi with a fly ball to the outfield. He also has the requirement to become a winning pitcher.
Chung faced Kia, the most powerful team among the 10 teams. The situation in which his team lost three consecutive games deserves pressure. Just playing under such conditions was a valuable experience.
The bench's decision to let a rookie pitcher whose durability has not been proven to be effective enough for him to throw as many balls as possible could cause aftereffects would not have been sufficient. The team should have stopped the pitcher even if it had hoped that he would fill five innings. On the day, Kiwoom tried hard to create a story of fighting spirit. Chung Hyeon-woo, who became the winning pitcher at his debut game, can gain confidence. Kiwoom has no choice but to worry that his arm will not break down. Manager Hong Won-ki, who has excellent know-how in managing starting pitchers, is also experiencing this for the first time. Is it the right answer to give him a long break.
Kim Tae-hyung (retired) of the Lotte Giants hit 135 pitches (one run in nine innings) in the match against the Busan OB Bears on April 24, 1991. Kim Soo-kyung (retired) of the Hyundai Unicorns left 120 pitches (three runs in six and one third innings) in the match against the Incheon Ssangbangwool Raiders on April 17, 1998. These were all events that happened in the 1990s. Chung rose to second place in this category.
Cho Hyung-joon (KT Wiz, 2020) and Lee Eui-ri (KIA, 2021), who won the Rookie of the Year award by serving as starting pitchers throughout their first season as players, posted 84 pitches each in their debut matches. Attention is already drawn to Chung's next appearance.