Oh Jae-won and Lee Dae-ho of Hanwha, who were "star award recipients," also acknowledged "I remember when I went to Yushin High School. He worked really hard"

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Eagles outfielder Oh Jae-won (19) targeted the second Moon Hyun-bin (23).

After the 2026 KBO rookie orientation at the Daejeon Convention Center on the 14th, Oh Jae-won said, "Lee Dae-ho said a lot of good things, so I learned a lot. As a rookie, I try to be careful of my actions on and off the field and show a professional appearance," he said with strength.

Earlier, Lee Dae-ho was a one-day instructor and talked about what kind of mindset he should have as a professional player as a senior. He gave advice in three categories: rookie's posture, mental management as a professional player (mental management), and goals, of which the attention of rookies was focused on mental management.

On this day, Hanwha rookies actively asked Lee Dae-ho and were praised, and Oh Jae-won was one of them. Oh Jae-won said, "I asked you how to manage condition and take care of your body, and it helped me a lot. Another player asked me how to overcome a slump, and that part touched me a lot," he said.

Oh Jae-won is an outfielder designated by Hanwha as the third-ranked player in the first round of the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft. Based on the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA), he received a lot of attention for his fast feet and excellent center field defense despite his small build of 177 centimeters and weight of 76 kilograms.

Another advantage of Oh Jae-won was consistency and work ethic (work ethics and attitude). From the first grade, he became an example of others to the extent that he volunteered to play special hits at night, and led Yoo Shin-go in the third grade as the captain. As a result, he recorded a batting average of 0.385 or higher for three years and finished his high school career batting average of 0.420. Based on his outstanding performance, he also won the Star Award in baseball at the "2025 Futures Star Awards" last year.

Lee Dae-ho, who travels to high schools across the country through his personal YouTube channel to give advice to players, also remembers his sincerity. Lee Dae-ho said in a lecture that day, "The effort he makes is not an effort. It's an effort to do it until people around you say, 'Stop it, you're doing too much'. Of course, I think 140 rookies gathered here put a lot of effort and preparation when they were amateur. But if you go professional, the seniors of the same team will try more out of sight," he said, stressing the importance of efforts to rookies.

He said, "I've seen a lot of juniors while visiting high schools here and there. Each school had different styles and different ways to exercise, but one or two out of 140 people here, or at most five people, must have been told to stop."

One of the people who passed that strict standard was Oh Jae-won. After the lecture, Lee Dae-ho said, "(Oh) it reminds me of Jae-won when I see familiar players sitting in the professional league through personal YouTube). When I first went to Yushin High School, I felt that Jaewon was working really hard," he said.

Although he is still only a rookie, this is why he is expected to debut in the first division from his first year of debut. Oh Jae-won said, "My strength is speed and defense range. My goal is to quickly adapt to the KBO stage and perform well because I am the type to think short of my goals, he said. "I want to show all my strengths such as contact, speed, and defensive range in the Australian camp." "The new home stadium is really big, and I feel good to think about running around," he said with a smile.

The player I want to resemble the most right now was senior Moon Hyun-bin. Moon Hyun-bin also joined Hanwha in the 11th place in the second round of the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft and played 137 games from his first year. Despite the evaluation that the defense is weak, he has steadily gained experience and successfully settled as a left fielder this year, in his third year, and has also worn the national flag.

When asked by reporters, "Who is the senior I want to ask a lot about hitting in the camp?" Oh Jae-won said, "Of course, it's Moon Hyun-bin. (Moon)I want to ask Hyunbin a lot and learn a lot. Also, if Son Ah-seop stays, I want to learn a lot from him," he said with strength.

As I listened to Lee Dae-ho, I felt that there were many shortcomings and a lot of efforts. My physique is not that big, I've been working hard on weight training since high school, but I think I'm still lacking a lot. "I'll make a body like Kim Hye-sung," he said. "First of all, what I planned is to join the opening game entry and make 100 hits in the season. If possible, I want to play full-time and challenge for the Rookie of the Year award," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.