"It's time for (Hwang) Junseo to show" → As if to see, will KKKKKK finally burst the No. 1 overall ranking of 'Tongsan ERA 5.30'

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Eagles nominated him as the No. 1 overall pick and received a lot of expectations, but he was more remembered as a "thin pitcher struggling with weight gain" than his skills. This means that Hwang Jun-seo (21) fell below expectations after joining the team.

Hwang Jun-seo, who is in his third year as a professional, seems to be shouting that this year will be different. He made the head coach smile with an impeccable pitch from the first game of the season.

Hwang Joon-seo started the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League away game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 5th and allowed three hits, two outs, seven strikeouts and two runs in four ⅓ innings. The batters failed to score a point and became a losing pitcher, but it was a very satisfactory pitch.

Hwang Jun-seo, who went through Myeonilcho (Jungnanggu Little), Sangmyeong Middle School and Jang Chung-go, won the grand prize of honor at the 2023 Futures Star Awards and also received Hanwha's nomination as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 rookie draft. He was expected to be the next left-hander to succeed Ryu Hyun-jin.

He is the same pitcher as "Pain Finger," who has been evaluated as a talent to lead Hanwha's future along with Moon Dong-ju (1st round in 2022) and Kim Seo-hyun (1st round in 2023) and rookie Jung Woo-joo (2nd round in 2025) selected by Hanwha, but has yet to turn the possibility into a reality with two seniors and even juniors positioned around the team.

When talking about Hwang Joon-seo, the staff member always catches up. Compared to the good times in the first half, the collapse in the second half was repeated. The ERA in the first half of his debut season was 4.77 and 3.15 last year, but he finished similarly with 5.38 and 5.30. The wins and losses were the same with two wins and eight losses.

The exhaustion was repeated in the second half of the year, and "weight" was mentioned as one of the reasons. It was that I didn't have the strength to last a season. Ryu Hyun-jin and other seniors actively rushed to the so-called "Hwang Joon-seo fattening project," but it was not easy.

The process of preparing for this season was a little different. Hwang ate more actively than ever and focused more on weight training under trainer Lee Ji-pung's dedicated mark. Before leaving the spring camp, he had already gained about 5kg, raising expectations.

Hwang Jun-seo, who has been impressive since the practice game at the spring camp, started in the Futures (second division) with three runs in four ⅔ innings in five exhibition games, but pitched five scoreless innings in two Futures League games and started on the 5th with foreign pitcher Owen White out injured.

Before the game, head coach Kim Kyung-moon said, "I'm looking forward to Jun-seo's performance today. If I throw well, I'm going to go until I go without thinking about the number." He didn't say long words, but now he is eager to see Hwang Jun-seo pitch to meet expectations.

The beginning was unsettling. In the bottom of the first inning, Park Joon-soon and Jung Soo-bin had consecutive hits and gave up a walk to Yang Eui-ji, causing a full base crisis with no outs.

But he soon came to his senses. He struck out rookie with a low fastball to Dodds Cameron and sprayed a slow curve to Ahn Jae-seok to strike out swinging. Yang Seok-hwan finished the inning without giving up a run by dealing with a grounder to shortstop.

After that, it flew up. He overwhelmed Doosan batters with a slow curve that completely took away the timing of the opponent's batter due to a sharp fastball that was sucked exactly where he wanted to go. In the second inning, Park Chan-ho struck out swinging in an awkward position due to Hwang Jun-seo's low fastball. In the fourth inning, Cameron, Ahn Jae-seok, and Yang Seok-hwan were returned to KKK.

He threw 38 pitches of up to 148 kilometers of fastball, 31 of which were aggressive enough to fit in the strike zone. The average speed of the curve was 111 kilometers per hour, which was 30 kilometers apart from the fastball. The batters were bound to be that confused.

The fifth inning was a bit of a bummer. After receiving a hit from Park Chan-ho, he sent a runner to third base with a steal to second base and a sacrifice bunt by Park Ji-hoon, but when he gave Lee Yoo-chan a walk after the full count match, the Hanwha bench moved. It wasn't like the ball was out of steam or had a lot of pitches, but it was a decision that contained the Hanwha bench's idea to make the most of the bullpen pitchers ahead of the rest day.

As a result, it was a failure. He lowered a well-throwed pitcher with only 71 pitches and put up Yoon San-heum, and with one out and runners on the first and third bases, Park Joon-soon hit a 145km/h fastball to hit a three-run home run. Hwang Joon-seo's two successors homered, and Hanwha's batters failed to score a point and eventually lost the game.

However, except for the outcome of defeat, it was sufficiently satisfactory. Before the game, White's temporary replacement foreign pitcher Jack Cushing visited the stadium and greeted the players, but he will need more time to start after jet lag and inspection. Even if he entered Hwang Jun-seo's position as it was, Hwang Jun-seo could be fully utilized as a long relief resource if he only thought about the pitch on the day.

He himself said that his third year as a professional should be different. He also succeeded in gaining weight, which was difficult, and showed that he changed from the first game. As head coach Kim said, it is now Hwang Jun-seo's turn to show.

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*This content was translated by AI.