Play 25% of the professional baseball season
The 2024 KBO League has played 24.7 percent of its entire schedule (178 games out of 720 games) as of Thursday. With no team in the top flight, the competition is heating up. The competition for the rookie of the year title is also underwater.
For now, Hwang Joon-seo (18) of the Hanwha Eagles, who is wearing a professional uniform as the No. 1 player in the 2024 rookie draft, is building up his innings as a team starter. He was excluded from the starting rotation, but he joined the regular starting lineup of the Hanwha Eagles as Kim Min-woo underwent elbow surgery. He played in eight games with one win and two losses and an ERA of 4.13 (hitting 11 earned runs in 24 innings). He has a better risk management system than when there is no runner (hitting ratio of 0.318), as his batting average is lower when there is a runner.
Kwak Do-gyu, 20, a left-handed bullpen pitcher with a must-win win of the Kia Tigers, is also notable. Kwak joined the team last year but pitched only 11 ⅔, making him eligible for the Rookie of the Year award again this year. He played in 19 games this year, recording an ERA of 2.40 with one win and five holds (four earned runs in 15 innings pitched). “As a pitcher, I definitely have the fighting spirit. The pitching form itself is wild and really difficult to hit,” Kia coach Lee Bum-ho compliments Kwak.
Jeon Mir (18) and Kim Taek-yeon (18) of the Doosan Bears are also candidates for the Rookie of the Year award. Jeon Mir has been somewhat shaky since he lost three consecutive games in late April, but has regained his initial pace recently. Kim Taek-yeon is also becoming the core of Doosan’s bullpen. In 13 games, his ERA is low at 2.51 (four earned runs in 14 ⅓ innings).
Among fielders, Hwang Young-mook (23), who belatedly joined the professional baseball league as an independent player, has a strong bat. He has a batting average of 0.333 (21 hits in 63 times at bat), one home run, 10 runs and eight RBIs. His on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) is 0.786, and he has a scoring average of 0.421. Hanwha fans call him “Mukki Betts” after Mookie Betts, a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major League.
Kim Beom-seok (19), a member of the LG Twins who wore a professional uniform last year, is also showing off his strength. He hit three home runs in 15 games. He has 14 RBIs. His OPS is 0.80, and Kim has a 0.444 run-scoring batting average, showing off his clutch ability. Park Ji-hwan (18, SSG Landers), the only fielder in the rookie draft to be selected in the first round, had been away since mid-April, but was diagnosed with a microfracture after being hit by a ball in the back of his left hand at the batter’s box against Hanwha on April 30. It is regrettable that he had a good batting average of 0.308 (8 hits in 26 times at bat) before he got hurt.
So far, only a quarter of the entire season has been played. Steadyness is expected to be the main coordinate that will determine the rookie of the year in the 2024 season.
BY: 스포츠토토핫