Hwang Jun-seo and Kim Taek-yeon Were Selected 1st and 2nd in the KBO Rookie Draft
Hanwha General Manager Son Hyuk: “Hwang Jun-seo is the player everyone wants… Scouts recommend him all year round”
Pitchers lined up from 1st to 9th ranked… SSG selects infielder Park Ji-hwan for the first time as the 10th overall fielder
Jangchung High School left-handed pitcher Hwang Jun-seo was selected as the first overall pick in the 2024 KBO rookie draft. 바카라사이트
The Hanwha Eagles exercised the first overall pick on Hwang Jun-seo in the 2023 professional baseball rookie draft held at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 14th.
A total of 1,083 people applied for this draft, including 782 high school graduates, 296 college graduates (including 41 early draftees), and 5 other overseas amateur and professional players.
After ‘biggest fish' Jang Hyun-seok (Masan Yongmaggo) signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers of the American Professional Baseball League, Hwang Jun-seo, who had been mentioned as the ‘overall pick', won the honor of KBO's best prospect.
Hwang Jun-seo is the type of pitcher who uses a variety of breaking balls and sophisticated ball control to cook batters.
He pitched 49⅔ innings in 15 high school baseball games this year, striking out 58 batters, and left with 6 wins, 2 losses, and an average ERA of 2.16.
He is expected to be the ‘second Gwang-Hyun Kim' as he throws a fast ball with a maximum speed of over 150 km/h.
Hanwha General Manager Jang Son Hyuk said, “The club's scouts have recommended Hwang Jun-seo all year long.
Hwang Jun-seo is the pitcher everyone wants.
He stated the reason for his nomination, saying, "He is a pitcher I will want more in the future."
The first round selections in the 2024 rookie draft are in the reverse order of the 2022 season team rankings: Hanwha-Doosan Bears-Lotte Giants-Samsung Lions-NC Dinos-KIA Tigers-KT Wiz-LG Twins- Kiwoom Heroes - SSG Landers, in that order.
Among them, the 8th overall pick in the first round held by LG will be exercised by Kiwoom through trade.
Kiwoom can select 6 of the top 30 players in this draft by securing KIA's 16th overall pick in the 2nd round and Samsung's 24th overall pick in the 3rd round through a trade.
Ten teams will nominate players from the 1st to 11th rounds, and up to 110 players will wear uniforms through this draft.
Doosan, which holds the second overall pick, called Incheon High School right-handed pitcher Kim Taek-yeon.
Taek-yeon Kim had 7 wins, 1 loss, and an ERA of 1.13 in 13 high school baseball games this year, and played a decisive role in winning the bronze medal by taking the mound for 5 consecutive games at the U-18 Baseball World Cup, which ended last week.
Kim Tae-ryong, Doosan's general manager, said, "Kim Taek-yeon has been consistent from spring until this year's World Youth Championship in Taiwan.
He has good ball control and maintains speed.
We expect him to grow into Doosan's stopper (finisher) within two to three years at the earliest."
The first round of this draft went as expected without any major surprises.
It was a year in which there were particularly many fastball pitchers with speeds exceeding 150 km/h, so pitchers were called out one after another.
Lotte nominated pitcher and hitter Jeon Mir (Gyeongbuk High School).
Jeon Mir is a player with a fastball of 150 km per hour as a pitcher and long-hitting power as a batter.
Lotte general manager Seong Min-gyu said, “He has outstanding athleticism that allows him to be both a pitcher and a hitter.
He didn't hesitate.”
Samsung selected Yuk Seon-yeop (Jangchung High School), a right-handed fastball pitcher with a height of 190 cm.
Samsung general manager Hong Jun-hak said, "He is a player with a fierce passion for baseball.
If he is greedy, I hope he will establish himself as a starting pitcher within three years."
Right-hander Kim Hwi-geon (Whimoon High School) selected by NC as the 5th overall pick in the first round, right-hander Cho Dae-hyun (Gangneung High School) selected by KIA as 6th overall, and right-hander Won Sang-hyeon (Busan High School) selected by KT are all fastball pitchers exceeding 150 km/h.
Kiwoom, who had two first-round picks through a trade, called numbers 8 and 9 overall in succession.
The 8th overall pick that was secured after sending Choi Won-tae to LG was used for right-hander Jeon Jun-pyo (Seoul High School), and the 9th overall pick that was originally held was used for right-hander Kim Yun-ha (Jangchung High School).
Lee Sang-won, head of Kiwoom's scouting team, explained the background to the nomination, saying, "Jeon Jun-pyo is a player whose pitching strength is more than 9 strikeouts per 9 innings, while Kim Yun-ha has a good walk and strikeout ratio and is good at controlling the pace."
SSG selected infielder Park Ji-hwan (Segwang High School) and selected a fielder for the first time in this draft.
SSG general manager Kim Seong-yong said, "I prayed that Park Ji-hwan would remain.
He is a player with the triple potential of offense, defense, and base running, so I expected him to be responsible for the team's future."
