Deok-Soo Eom Jun-Sang, a two-and-a-timer, said, "I'll be the first overall KBO... [Jiwoo - Hyunseung, it's on me] [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

"(Kim) Ji-woo, (Ha) Hyun-seung, I'll buy the outback."

Eom Jun-sang (18) of Deoksu High School, a combination of pitching and batting, presented a witty challenge to his friends Kim Ji-woo (18, Seoul High School) and Ha Hyun-seung (18, Busan High School), who are classified as the big three together.

Um Jun-sang is considered one of the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft Big 3 prospects to be held in the second half of this year. He has been playing at baseball's prestigious Deoksu High School since his freshman year, showing batting talent with a batting average of 0.352 (37 hits in 105 at-bats) in 37 games, attracting the attention of Major League scouts. Last year was a season that proved why he was the No. 1 candidate in the entire KBO rookie draft. As the main shortstop, he led Deoksu to a blue dragon victory with a batting average of 0.344 (33 hits in 96 times at bat), two homers, 22 RBIs, 28 runs and three steals, 13 strikeouts (three balls on 15 walks) and an on-base percentage of 0.443 slugging percentage of 0.490.

A KBO scout told Star News, "Um Jun-sang has a good ability to cope with breaking balls at bat. It's hard to say that you have a perfect power tool. However, no player has power and is this accurate. He also knows how to adjust the timing according to the opposing pitcher. He praised it, saying, "I have a higher level of hitting skills than my age group."

Based on his achievements, he won the national flag at the 2025 WBSC (World Baseball Softball Federation) U-18 Baseball World Cup. He was the only second year high school student with Ha Hyun-seung on the youth team. He also won the Future Star Award in baseball at the "2025 Futures Star Awards" last year.

Um Joon-sang, who recently met Star News at Deoksu Baseball Stadium, said, "Until the middle of the season, the batting average was high and the pace was really good. However, since he entered the weekend league in the second half of the year, his pace has fallen since then. I just started pitching as a pitcher, but honestly, I don't think it's because of that," he shook his head. "The youth national team was a really good experience, but I personally felt really bad. I shouldn't say that I don't fit in one or two games, but I'm in a hurry. I want to minimize this cycle next year and show my strengths for sure if I get picked again this year," he said with strength.

Eom Jun-sang's appearance on the mound further raised Eom's stock price. Despite not training much as a pitcher, he took the mound in 11 games and recorded 4 wins and 2 losses with a 0.66 ERA, 37 strikeouts (five walks and one body hit) in 40 ⅔ innings, and 0.68 WHIP (on-base allowance per inning). The maximum speed reached 153 kilometers per hour, and sliders and curves are highly regarded.

The KBO scout said, "It's the best at this point in terms of growth potential as a pitcher. It is a type that suits the starter more than the bullpen. It has a good sense and can also control the level. If we do it in earnest, I think we can use various breaking balls," he said. "I throw curves, sliders, and change-ups, but I change my grip, so I know how to throw them. Curve RPM (rotations per minute) was also good enough to come out close to 3,000 when I checked it," he added.

This year, Um Jun-sang will spend his third year training with a ratio of 9 fielders and 1 pitchers. This is thanks to the mound that has strengthened left-hander Choi Hee-sung (17), who has a good pitching mechanism, and right-hander Ryu Ho-yeon (18), who has good growth, in the third grade right-hander trio Kim Dae-seung (18) Park Hyun-min (18) and Kim Kyu-min (18). Um Jun-sang said, "My strength as a pitcher is my control. I think he's fast-paced and has the ability to run the game. So, I'm not the type to type with ball power, but I'm confident that I won't get hit even if I throw it looking at the center. He also expressed confidence, saying, "My pitching colleagues are good."

Most of all, it added fun to the defense. Deoksu participated in the "San Francisco Giants Youth Baseball Clinic" event with Hwimungo at LG Champions Park in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do on the 8th. There, Um Joon-sang received defense training by asking for advice directly from 182 million-dollar shortstop Willie Adames (31).

Um Jun-sang said, "I like defense. Even if I train mainly on defense, I don't feel hard because it's fun," he said with a smile, adding, "The range of defense is not very wide, but I'm confident in my first start. He also said, "I'm a little more confident in my quickness and batting judgment, so I tend to defend defensively." Kang Jung-ho is my role model as a shortstop. I've also looked for a lot of videos that I posted recently that I'm trying to try out and defense videos in the past. I want to be a shortstop who hits a lot of home runs like Kang Jung-ho, so I really want to see him in the professional league."

The future of Um Jun-sang, Ha Hyun-seung and Kim Ji-woo is the first interest of all KBO clubs this year. All three have received the attention of Major League scouts since their freshman year, and are currently ongoing. I asked him how he felt at this point in January 2026. Um Jun-sang said, "It's not that I don't have thoughts about Major League Baseball. However, I can think about it after the season is over, so I will try to focus only on the game as much as possible until the middle of this season. First of all, I will become the best player this year and think about my future," he said with strength.

He didn't mind the media's comments on the big three. Um Jun-sang said, "They've all been close since middle school, so they don't have a sense of rivalry. In particular, he smiled, saying, "I've been close since middle school because I'm in the same Seoul area as (Kim) Ji-woo, so I used to go watch the previous game."

"What do you think you're more confident about than the other two friends?"When asked, Um Jun-sang said, "I've always been confident in one shortstop defense since I was young. In addition, he has stable control as a pitcher. In fact, I was confident in contact, but there were more strikeouts this year than I thought. So this year, his goal is to hit more than five home runs with a batting average of 400. As a pitcher, I don't have any specific aspirations," he said.

Finally, he said there is something he really wants to say to Ha Hyun-seung and Kim Ji-woo, who are well-meaning competitors and best friends. Um Jun-sang and Ha Hyun-seung shared a room in the national team last year, and they had a video call with Kim Ji-woo in Okinawa, Japan.

Um Jun-sang said, "Both of them work hard in baseball, so I hope they enjoy this year as they do now. In addition, the three of us decided to buy an outback if one of us becomes the No. 1 KBO rookie, but I would like to say that I buy the outback. At first, I cheered for (Kim) Ji-woo, but (Kim) Ji-woo suddenly said, "I'll go first." But not anymore. I'll just go for number one," he said, making a pleasant declaration of war.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.