Park Geun-seo of Seoul Design High School aims for a sudden rise in KBO 1R candidates → ML. "Role model Ronaldo, diet management is also fun."" [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Seoul Design High School left-hander Park Geun-seo (18) has emerged as a candidate for the first round of the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft to be held later this year. On top of that, KBO scouts are also complicating as U.S. Major League Baseball teams are also showing interest.

Park Geun-seo is a left-hander who graduated from Baekmacho-Seoul Hongeun Middle School in Gyeonggi Province and went to Chungam High School to become an ace at Seoul Design High School. Its strength is a fast fastball of up to 149km/h, which comes from a solid physique close to 190cm tall. Starting with this year's weekend league, E-Mart Bae showed off his overwhelming pitching with three wins and no losses with a 2.45 ERA in five games and 34 strikeouts with eight outs (seven walks and one body) in 21 ⅔ innings.

He is also a player who attracted the attention of scouts at home and abroad along with Ha Hyun-seung (18, Busan High School) and Park Chan-min (18, Gwangju High School) at the 2026 Shinsegae E-Mart Cup National High School Baseball Competition, which ended with Deoksu's recent victory. KBO Scout A said in a recent phone call with Star News, "Regardless of the name value, the best player in this tournament is Park Geun-seo from Seoul Design High School. Park Geun-seo said, "In this competition, which lacked fielders resources and did not have many noticeable pitchers overall, he solved scouts' questions (about himself)."

The reason that has raised the curiosity of scouts is their performance so far. Park Geun-seo underwent MCL surgery in June of his first year and transferred to Seoul Design High School last year after throwing ⅔ innings in an official game at Chungam High School. Last year, he only played in practice games and worked on the pitching mechanism. As a result, fastball's restraint, which stayed in the middle of 130km/h after rehabilitation, jumped to the middle of 140km by this year's Winter League.

In the process, it also went viral among scouts. This E-Mart Cup was a competition that proved the rumor. KBO Scout A said, "The speed limit was more than 147 kilometers per hour, and it was noticeable that he was a left-hander who could use various breaking balls. He throws sliders and curves, but he moves with a similar arm trajectory, making it difficult for batters to target. He also confidently throws changeups to right-handed hitters, drawing swings and misses," he explained.

Although there is not much that has been shown yet, it is evaluated that the growth potential is high. Another KBO scout B said about Park Geun-seo, "It's not 100% of using your body yet. Nevertheless, it already throws 147 to 148 kilometers per hour. If you receive systematic training at a professional in the future, you will be able to see 155km."

Major League scouts also acknowledged their interest in Park Geun-seo. Major League Scout C said, "We still have a little time, so we're going to watch more," but added, "It's right for a player who's watching with interest." He said, "It is attractive because he has a left-hander who throws a fast ball and a physique."

Park Geun-seo, who liked soccer as a child, fell into baseball while watching Choi Ji-man's game when he was with the Los Angeles Angels on a trip to the U.S. with his family in 2016. Thanks to the support of my father, who likes sports, I entered the baseball path in earnest from the third grade of elementary school. It was also his decision to transfer to Seoul Design High School. Leaving Chungam High School, which had a thick player base and many good left-handers, he wanted many opportunities to play. The fact that Moon Dong-wook (34), a pitching coach from the second round of the Lotte Giants, and many friends from Hong Eun-joong also played a part.

Park Geun-seo said, "The improvement of my skills was largely influenced by the environment. I met many good friends, coaches, and coaches. I also thought that I wanted to learn from coach Moon Dong-wook. I found out for the first time because the coach ran an exercise-related account on SNS. He said, "I received a lot of help because he informed me systematically."

"Director Lee Ho looked at my future. In fact, I wanted to return quickly and show it to them last year. However, the coach told me to prepare slowly and see next year if I want to play baseball for a long time due to injuries. Thanks to him, I had good results," he said, expressing his gratitude.

Even though it was my first interview, I was not blocked from explaining myself and talking about the future. Park Geun-seo said, "I'm currently throwing fastball, curves, and change-ups, and I'm still practicing sliders. He said, "I'm the most confident type of pitch, but I still lack a lot of breaking balls." He continued, "I don't think you can survive with just a fastball in the professional league. So I'm thinking a lot about breaking balls, throwing sliders like cutters," he added.

When asked about the role model, there was an unexpected question. Park Geun-seo said, "Football player (Cristiano) Ronaldo is a role model. I'm not a baseball player, but as an athlete, I'm very proud and respectful to take care of myself like that even though I'm over 40 years old." "I think self-management is the most important thing to play baseball for a long time. I was also fat until the first grade, but while rehabilitating, I filled my muscle mass with diet management and weight training. The process is more interesting than I thought, so I'm looking it up on YouTube and studying," he said with a smile.

For Park Geun-seo, E-Mart Bae was a competition that showed that rehabilitation and diet management, which were not easy, were not in vain. "Before the start of this season, I wanted to throw 150 kilometers per hour and aim for the top nomination in the first round. But I want to play baseball for a long time without getting sick even when I go to a pro. In order to do that, I thought I should give up my greed. I want to improve my breaking ball and game management capabilities for the rest of this year," he stressed.

As he turned his direction as a baseball player while watching the Major League, he also opened his dream of entering the U.S. while aiming for the top KBO League nomination. Park Geun-seo said, "I still have a lot of thoughts about going to the KBO League first. I wanted to go to the Major League later if it goes well, but I don't think it's 0% these days," he said.

Even so, he said, "I like the Samsung Lions and Bae Chan-seung now. Even though Bae Chan-seung was a rookie, it was cool to see him throw his ball confidently. I'm also a player who always throws the ball confidently on the mound. He is also a pitcher who values the team more than the individual. I will aim to play more games and go up with my team this year," he said, expressing his strong ambition.

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*This content was translated by AI.