*This content was translated by AI.
Hanwha Eagles eventually threw an unconventional game plan. Rather than immediately pulling out power to win this season, the KIA Tigers chose a promising "153km fireballer" who has not spared any intensive investment. The main character is Yang Soo-ho (20), a rookie for the 2025 season.
Hanwha Eagles officially announced on the 29th, "We appointed right-hander Yang Soo-ho as a compensation player for Kim Bum-soo, who transferred to KIA after becoming a free agent (FA)." The FA contract between Kim Bum-soo and KIA was announced to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on the 23rd. According to regulations, clubs that have recruited FA players must deliver a list of compensation players to the original team within three days after the announcement. KIA passed the list of 25 protected players on the 26th. And the club that received the list had to make a decision within three days, and Hanwha chose Yang Soo-ho after spending three days full and contemplating.
Yang Su-ho. It's still an unfamiliar name to baseball fans. That's because he is a rookie who entered the professional stage for the first time last season, when he has yet to even take the first-team stage.
Yang Soo-ho, who graduated from Boseong Elementary School (Daejeon Jung-gu Little), Gongju Middle School, and Gonggo High School, joined the team after being nominated by KIA as the 35th overall ranking in the fourth round in 2025. The down payment for joining the team is 80 million won. The annual salary is 30 million won. Last year, when he played for KIA, his back number was 59.
There is no first-team performance yet. He pitched in eight games in the Futures League last season, marking one loss, one save and a 4.70 ERA without a win. In a total of seven ⅔ innings, he had six hits (one homer), six walks, and four runs (four earned) with nine strikeouts and four runs (four earned) on the ball. The hit rate is 0.231.
Regarding Yangsuho, Hanwha said, "Last year, we recorded a maximum speed limit of 153 kilometers and an average speed limit of 148 kilometers. "I'm evaluated as having a good pitching impact," he explained.
Yang Soo-ho is one of Kia's promising resources. At the end of June last year, KIA dispatched three pitchers to Tread Athletics located in Charlotte, North Carolina. At that time, Yang Soo-ho, along with Kim Se-il and Kim Jung-yeop, was included as one of the three. It was also the third dispatch since KIA conducted five pitchers as short-term training in the summer of 2024. It was Kia's bold investment in the future.
At the time, the KIA team explained, "The team, which will play a schedule of 29 nights and 31 days, will conduct training according to a customized program designed based on the measurement results of each player, such as physical ability." KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak also said, "Since signing a business alliance agreement with Tread Athletics in March, we are seeking a team development program from various angles, and this dispatch is also part of it," adding, "We expect players to be able to enhance their potential through advanced programs." The club has explained that it will continue to make various efforts to foster players. And after completing training safely, Yang Soo-ho took the mound in three Futures League games and checked his skills after returning home.
Hanwha held such Yang Soo-ho in his arms. In fact, Hanwha, which plays for the goal of winning the championship right away this season, can be seen as a center fielder in need of reinforcement. Hanwha has experimented with various resources while failing to find the center fielder resources that have firmly established themselves. Signing foreign hitter Peraza this season, he said goodbye to Luis Liberato, who played center field last season. For Peraza and Moon Hyun-bin, corner outfielders are considered more suitable resources. Lee Jin-young, Lee Won-seok, and rookie Oh Jae-won in the first round are also being mentioned as candidates for center field. On top of that, Hanwha sent Han Seung-hyuk and Kim Bum-soo away, so bullpen resources were also needed.
However, as a result, Hanwha did not choose the center field and bullpen resources it needed immediately. And he boldly chose a rookie last year who had no experience playing in the first team, which is far from immediately calling it a sense of power. There was a reason. Hanwha General Manager Son Hyuk said, "Yang Su-ho is a fireballer that we have been interested in and have been watching closely since the draft two years ago," adding, "We highly appreciated his future growth potential and selected him as a reward player." "As the club highly values the high point of growth, we expect it to grow into a young pitching pitcher with Kim Seo-hyun and Jung Woo-joo in the future if we improve our complementary points such as physique," he stressed. In the end, Hanwha carefully chose this reward player, taking care of the far future, not now.
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*This content was translated by AI.
