In addition to elbow surgery, Yoo Shin-go, "I want to stand next to KBO and Won Tae-in rather than ML."" [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Ryu Shin-go left-hander Lee Seung-won (18), who is expected to be the first overall in elbow surgery, aimed to be named in the third place in the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft despite Major League Baseball's interest.

Lee Seung-won is considered the No. 1 overall candidate who will threaten the Big 3 called Ha Hyun-seung (18) of Busan High School, Um Jun-sang (18), and Kim Ji-woo (18) of Seoul High School in the KBO Rookie Draft to be held later this year. The evaluation was made even though he had a left elbow MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) surgery in June last year. A KBO scout A told Star News, "It will depend on how much you show after elbow surgery. However, along with the three players, Ha Hyun-seung, Um Jun-sang, and Kim Ji-woo, one of the most likely No. 1 players is Yoo Shin-go's Lee Seung-won, he said.

Lee Seung-won's strength, praised by multiple scouts, is 189 centimeters tall and growing rapidly based on the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA). In the first grade, the fastball was only in the early 130km/h, but in the second grade, he threw up to 144km. The U.S. Major League Baseball has consistently received attention since its freshman year. ML Scout B said, "I rather like Lee Seung-won than the big three. If I return and throw 148 kilometers per hour in my condition, I still want to take him. I have very good qualities as a pitcher," he said with strength.

Above all, it is evaluated as having excellent game management ability based on stable control. I knew how to control the payoff by mixing slider-curve-change-up evenly. Last year, E-Mart Bae Hwimungo's perfect pitching with nine strikeouts and no outs in six innings is a prime example. In addition, the strong mentality of striking out straight away without being shaken by the fielders' errors raised the evaluation. Star News met Lee Seung-won, who is in the midst of rehabilitation, and heard the background of the mentality that the Major League scout admired.

Lee graduated from Yulgok Middle School in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. It is a middle school with only three baseball teams in downtown Paju along with Geumneung Middle School and Gwangtan Middle School BC. As such, it was difficult to supply players. Lee Seung-won said, "At the beginning of the graduation class, there were three baseball members, including me, in the third grade. Somehow, the director gathered it and even gathered his hobby classmates, and there were only nine people. As a result, there were a lot of mistakes. There are many crises that I can't do well, so I can throw my ball without being conscious of the situation from then on," he recalled.

"Since then, I have been paying a little more attention to control than to speed with the mindset of direction rather than speed. There has been a saying since middle school that our grade is the golden generation now. In the third year of middle school, there were a few friends who threw more than 140 kilometers per hour, but I was up to 130 kilometers. It was okay for the fielders to make mistakes as the difficult game continued in that situation. Rather, I am very grateful to the middle school coach for continuing to believe and put him on the mound," he said with a smile.

The key to Lee Seung-won's first-round nomination, which has been verified to some extent, is his arrest. Fortunately, Lee Seung-won is evaluated to have enough room for a rise in speed in his pitching mechanism and growth. KBO Scout A said, "The reason why other scouts also saw Lee Seung-won highly is the growth. Overall, he is a left-hander who can be a starting pitcher like KIA Yoon Young-chul, but I think the possibility of improving his speed is greater than that of Yoon Young-chul."

The player himself is well aware of his concerns about his restraint. Last year, Lee Seung-won's maximum arrest was 146 kilometers per hour that the scouts told him, and 144 kilometers that he saw himself. Lee Seung-won said, "After coming to high school, wherever I went, I heard a lot that 'All you have to do is gain weight'. I was stressed by the words and there was pressure," he said, revealing his concerns.

The elbow surgery was a blessing in disguise. While not being able to throw the ball, he grew in height from 189cm to 190cm and weight from 82kg to 90kg. Lee Seung-won said, "My original goal was 95kg, but suddenly I felt my body getting heavy when I increased it. Since then, he has been rehabilitating by lowering the weight and focusing on mobility and quickness training. The goal is to return and throw an average fastball speed of 145 kilometers per hour and up to 152 kilometers per hour this year. I also want to throw high-speed sliders."

The pain in the elbow was felt in the final of the Golden Lion against Seongnam High School on May 19 last year. The left-hander ace, who had a 1.32 ERA in nine games before that, collapsed with seven hits, one walk and six runs in ⅓ innings alone against Seongnam High School. His ERA soared to 3.21 in one game and that's Lee's last game for now.

Lee Seung-won said, "The batters at Seongnam High School played really well that day. I felt uncomfortable before the game, but I felt nothing when I went up the mound. After coming down that day, the older brothers said they were not as good as usual and were light. However, Seongnam High School hitters were good at analyzing and there was also a point where my ball was concentrated in the middle," he said.

I had elbow surgery without being paid so much. It will start full-fledged ITP (Interval Throwing Program) training from mid-December last year, and will throw the ball as early as March. The goal is to return before the Golden Lion in May. Lee Seung-won said, "I've loved throwing balls since I was young. When I decided to have the surgery, I remember my mother asking, 'Are you going to be okay if I can't throw it for a year?'" he laughed.

"I thought I would keep being chased if I didn't have surgery. "I don't regret it," he said. "I'm practicing two-seam fastball grip while rehabilitating. The current breaking balls are sliders, changeups, and curves, but I want to throw them when it gets better," he added.

Paju boy, who was not very interested in baseball, naturally became Samlin (Samsung+Children) while going to Lions Park with his parents, who are big fans of the Samsung Lions. And in the year when Won Tae-in (26), the ace of blue blood, was nominated, he jumped into full-fledged baseball. Lee Seung-won said, "Interestingly, whenever I watched the Samsung game, Won Tae-in was the starting pitcher. First of all, the senior on the mound was really cool. He also said, "I think I'm a player with everything as a pitcher, whether it's game management or slow control, so I made him a role model."

A boy who wanted to resemble Won Tae-in became another ace waiting for his team members. Yoo Shin-go collapsed in the second half of the game between Daegu High School and the Winter League, finishing 4-4 on the day. Lee Seung-won said, "I'm sorry that I fell out alone while going through rehabilitation after being separated from my friends. So I'm going to go with a more perfect appearance, he said. "When I go back, I want to meet big hitters. If I catch huge, classy hitters, I think I'll grow even more, so a stronger ball comes out. So the batter I want to meet even when I go to the professional program is KT Ahn Hyun-min," he said with strength.

Still on the radar of Major League scouts, Lee quietly shakes his head. "I've heard it a few times (about Major League interest), but I still want to stay in Korea a little longer. "I don't know what will happen later, but my goal is to return healthy and contribute to the team's victory and to be in the top three overall rankings in this year's rookie draft," he said. "When I go professional, I want to stand next to Won Tae-in and see him. I think I'll only be impressed when I meet him, but I want to say that he was a real role model," he said, expressing his strong ambition.

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*This content was translated by AI.