"You're not a human" I'm surprised by all the 150km high school second left-handers! Cho Sung-joon of Chungam High School said, "I'll raise the average speed and try the youth team."" [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Even though he is just a second grader, there is a left-hander who made headlines by throwing a fast ball of 150km/h. Cho Seong-joon (17) is a sophomore at Chungam High School.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) recently conducted a training program at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as part of the Next-Level Training Camp in January. According to KBO, a total of 16 players (pitcher 6, catcher 2, infielder 5, outfielder 3) who completed the next-level training camp high school 1 nationwide camp were selected. They gained experience through baseball team training and practice games of the same age as the locals.

A total of one month of education was conducted from January 2 to January 31 local time in the United States. In the first two weeks, five practice games were played over the next two weeks, focusing only on training during the week, and Cho Sung-joon was the most prominent player in the process. According to Cho Sung-joon, the speed gun measured by domestic coaches had a maximum speed of 148 kilometers per hour. However, the speed gun of the Major League Scout, which visited the academy, was up to 150 kilometers per hour, surprising.

Cho Sung-joon, who met with Star News after returning home, said, "The maximum fastball speed during the regular season last year was 144 kilometers per hour. During the next level camp at the end of the year, he threw up to 147 kilometers per hour, and Major League scouts said 150 kilometers came out this time. I think it came out by throwing short and strong innings each," he said.

It was not simply praised for its fast arrest. The content of the game was also the best among the participants, making headlines among the players. Yoo Shin-go Moon Joon-hyuk (17) who joined the camp told Star News, "Seong-joon (Jo) became a hot topic because not only his arrest but also his game content was good." "The arrest itself came up to 148 kilometers per hour, but Sung-jun didn't have a walk and struck out two or three times. After seeing the arrest, everyone told Sung-jun, 'You're really not a person, you shouldn't be here, hurry up and go to the United States.' "Seeing Sung-jun stimulated me a lot, and I think I trained harder," he said with a bright smile.

I didn't like my control from the beginning. Cho Sung-joon, who threw and hit together even though he was a freshman last year, hit 0.275 (19 hits in 69 at-bats) without a home run in 24 games as a batter, 14 RBIs, 20 runs and two steals, and an on-base percentage of 0.363 slugging percentage of 0.348 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.711. As a pitcher, he recorded 2 wins and 1 loss in 7 ⅓ with an ERA of 19 games, 8 hits and 25 pitches (seven balls on 18 walks), 16 strikeouts, and 1.37 WHIP (on-base allowance per inning). Until now, his performance alone attracted the attention of KBO scouts along with left-hander Han Kyu-min (17) of Daejeon High School.

Looking back on the past year, Cho Sung-joon said, "I was okay physically, but honestly, I had mental difficulties. If the bat didn't fit a little, he went up to the mound and was affected. Other than that, it was okay," he recalled. "As a pitcher, I didn't feel much different from when I was in middle school. However, I felt that high school pitchers were very different from middle school pitchers. There was a big difference in the movement of the breaking ball, as well as the power of the ball," he added.

Cho Sung-joon made his name known in earnest at the 46th Seoul Metropolitan Government Long-Term U18 High School Fall Baseball Competition held in November last year. At the plate, he hit a large home run and threw a fast ball of up to 147 kilometers per hour on the mound to lead Chungam High School to victory. A KBO scout who watched this said, "I can see the growth for sure. It's still hard to judge, but it's not easy for a first-year student to throw that kind of ball."

The turning point he thought of was about this much. Cho Sung-joon said, "In terms of ball control and balance, I felt it improved little by little from the November tournament. After going through the next level, I learned new drills at IMG and the weather and training facilities were good, so I pitched as I wanted," he said with a smile.

As such, KBO scouts are also paying attention to the rapid growth. When he was in Little Paju City, he already threw a fast ball of 127km/h, and when he was in Chungam Middle School, he graduated after hitting 144km. And experiencing 150km/h a year after entering high school. Physically, the growth is not over yet. The height of 183 centimeters based on the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) is now 185 centimeters. Cho Sung-joon said, "I heard that the growth plate is still open. I feel like I'm still growing, but I'm focusing on training to increase the speed of my body itself. We are also paying attention to flexibility so that we don't get hurt as much as possible," he said.

He dreamed of becoming a left-hander like Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles), Kim Kwang-hyun (38, SSG Landers), and Yang Hyun-jong (38, KIA Tigers), who represent Korea. Throwing sliders, changeups, and curves, he is most confident in fastballs and sliders.

Cho Sung-joon said, "When I was young, I went to Jamsil Baseball Stadium a lot and cheered for LG, but these days, I watch more games of left-handers such as Kim Kwang-hyun, Ryu Hyun-jin, and Yang Hyun-jong than certain teams. When I was young, Kim Kwang-hyun's powerful pitching style was cool, so I watched and copied a lot. I still watch a lot of Kim Kwang-hyun's videos."

"These days, I watch a lot of videos of Ryu Hyun-jin when he was young. I felt that there was something to learn from Ryu Hyun-jin's appearance as a child. This year, I want to throw up to 150 kilometers per hour in any speed gun and raise the average speed limit a lot. And as a second grader, I want to go to the youth national team," he said, expressing his strong ambition.

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*This content was translated by AI.