It is not that the three of them are at the top side by side. It is still a one-top system. However, starting from this season, it is clear that there will be a great showdown for the top for the next few years. Doosan Kwak Bin (24) and Hanhwa Moon Dong-ju (20) will challenge Ahn Woo-jin (24) of Kiwoom, who won the Golden Glove in the pitching category last year.
In the 2000s, the era of the right-handed troika is reopening.메이저사이트 At that time, three right pitchers Bae Young-soo of Samsung, Min-han Son of Lotte, and Myung-hwan Park of Doosan defended the mound and played an active role as the best starting pitcher in Korea. Interestingly, all three pitchers showed off their peak skills in the 2004 or 2005 season and played the role of a one-two punch with their team’s foreign pitcher.
Since then, left-handed starting pitchers have represented Korean baseball rather than right-handed pitchers. Starting with Ryu Hyun-jin, who won the Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2006, Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong are steadily active. All three of them stepped on the mound in the major leagues and were the aces of the Korean national team in international competitions.
However, last month, Kim Gwang-hyun announced his intention to retire from the national team after the 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic), signaling the end of an era. And the era of the right pitcher is coming again. Ahn Woo-jin, who has already reached the top, Kwak-bin, who wore the Taegeuk mark in the 2023 WBC, and Moon Dong-ju, who is predicting a big success in the second year season, will compete for the top pitcher position in the KBO League
I don’t see any downside to all three. He boasts a powerful pitch that surpasses that of foreign pitchers and is also excellent at using breaking pitches. Their commonality is that they develop and become more skilled every year. An Woo-jin and Moon Dong-joo are expected to overcome the 160km barrier sooner or later. Gwak Bin is also evaluated as not inferior to them in terms of pitch. It has excellent vertical movement according to the number of revolutions and overwhelms batters with its fastball power.
The direction of development is similar. All three pitchers are focusing on increasing their changeup this season. And from the beginning of the season, he shakes the timing and attention of hitters with an exquisite changeup. Looking at the current situation, Kwak Bin has the upper hand in the perfection of the changeup, and Dongju Moon has the upper hand in the power of the changeup.
On the 9th, against KIA in Gwangju, Kwak Bin widened the range of use of his changeup and recorded two consecutive matches. He threw a changeup to left-handed batters both inside and outside. It seems that the change-up has already established itself as a secondary pitch, such as holding the count and inducing miss swings. He sealed the splitter he threw earlier to protect his elbow and found a breakthrough with his changeup.
Moon Dong-ju’s changeup speed is exceptional. On the 6th, based on the trackman of the Hanwha club, he made use of a 147 km changeup to Ja-wook Koo. The average player’s fastest ball velocity was recorded as a changeup. The movement and location of the ball are not yet perfect, and the difference between fastball and speed is not large, but there is a good chance that the changeup will become the deciding ball in the future. Jose Rosa also learned the changeup grip from a coach in less than a year. It’s amazing just by looking at the learning ability.
All three are more interesting because the potential is endless. Every year it grows and becomes stronger. In the first game of the 2021 Wild Card, Woojin An and Bin Bin Kwak held a luxury showdown at Jamsil Stadium, and similar appearances may continue to emerge in the future. Because the limit is unknown, baseball fans who look at three top-class right pitchers are bound to be more enjoyable.