"Lotte 1R → Hanwha Retirement" Subero also expected a right-hander and a promising player became a coach who was determined to transfer to the school. "I was a player who had a lot of failures... study for one's students" [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Moon Dong-wook (34), who played for the Lotte Giants and Hanwha Eagles in the past, has returned as a leader looking for promising players after retirement.

Coach Moon Dong-wook was a right-hander who joined Lotte in the sixth place in the second round of the 2014 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Gwangju Soochang Elementary School, Gwangju Dongseong Middle School, Gwangju Dongseong High School, and Konkuk University. He did not stand out much at Lotte, but he got a full-fledged opportunity after moving to Hanwha through the second KBO draft in 2018. In 2019, he won the most wins in the Futures League and ranked first in the ERA, drawing attention as a starting resource.

In particular, expectations were high for Carlos Subero (54), the former coach who was in charge of Hanwha's rebuilding. At the time, coach Subero mentioned Moon Dong-wook as one of the five starting candidates, and in fact, he got a chance to start in the 2021 exhibition game. However, due to the injury that came after the opening, he had to cling to rehabilitation for a long time, and eventually took off his uniform that year.

I recently met him, who I haven't seen for a while, at the Seoul Design High School playground. Coach Moon Dong-wook, who was interviewed by Star News, said, "I was a pitcher who had a lot of failures when I was active. I've done a lot not to fail, and after retirement, I wanted to make use of that experience," he said.

Coach Moon Dong-wook visited not only the training center but also the baseball society, and gained abundant experience in practice and theory. In 2023, he took his first step as a leader at Seoul Design High School. He smiled, "My disciples are still studying in the hope that they will not experience many failures like me." "As a pitching coach, we consider the pitching mechanism using biomechanics the most important and guide the players. Each player has different physique conditions, and even if they are the same physique, their strengths are different. I think there is an optimal mechanism for the player," he added.

Even in a difficult environment where many good prospects are not secured due to prestigious high schools, results have begun to emerge little by little. The representative player is Park Geun-seo (18), who quickly emerged as a first-round candidate in the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft to be held later this year. Park Geun-seo is a left-hander with a height of nearly 190cm and a fast fastball of up to 149km/h from his solid physique. He had a 2.45 ERA with three wins and no losses in five games this year and 34 strikeouts with eight outs (seven walks and one body hit) in 21 ⅔ innings, attracting the attention of domestic and foreign scouts.

At the recently concluded 2026 Shinsegae E-Mart Cup National High School Baseball Competition, he advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in six years as an ace. Thanks to this performance, Major League scouts have now put Park Geun-seo on the list of candidates for recruitment. A KBO scout A said, "Regardless of the name value, the best player in this tournament is Park Geun-seo from Seoul Design High School. "The left-hander threw more than 147 kilometers per hour, and it was noticeable that he could use various breaking balls."

Park Geun-seo transferred from Chungam High School to Seoul Design High School after seeing coach Moon Dong-wook. Park Geun-seo said, "Coach Moon Dong-wook ran an exercise-related account on SNS, so I found out for the first time. I transferred here because I thought I wanted to learn from coach Lee once," he said in the background. He continued, "I asked because there were many middle school friends attending here. Even when I came, I received a lot of help because you systematically informed me. I think I was influenced a lot by the pitching coach myself," he added.

Coach Moon Dong-wook said, "(Park) Geun-seo is greedy for baseball and has a good finger sense." He is a player who is expected to have a better future because he is quick to acquire. In addition to the recent times, I thank everyone for their hard work this year, regardless of what the players really say."

Seoul Design High School coach Lee Ho's efforts were also great for coaches and players to break down walls and talk about baseball without hesitation. Coach Lee Ho, who took over at Seoul Design High School in 2017, worked hard to create an atmosphere of unity with the mind of being a student before his students were baseball players. As a result, Seoul Design High School has become an attractive alternative for prospective players who want to play.

Coach Lee Ho said, "I'm teaching players with the idea that personality and basic skills are the best. Things you don't want to do don't improve even if you do it for 12 hours. We are making sure that the players can work hard and have fun while doing their school life steadily. In that sense, this year's players seem to be the best ever. I want to make this atmosphere a tradition of Seoul Design High School," he said with strength.

Park Geun-seo is also a case of rapid growth in the atmosphere created by coach Lee Ho and coach Moon Dong-wook. Park Geun-seo only focused on training even though he was able to throw last year after undergoing MCL surgery in his left elbow in June of his first year. As a result, the fastball speed increased by more than 10 kilometers and was able to have a little more completeness.

Park Geun-seo said, "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 show it next year if I want to play baseball for a long time. Thanks to that, we had good results," he said. He continued, "The improvement in skills was largely influenced by the environment. I met a lot of good friends, coaches, and coaches," he said, expressing his gratitude.

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*This content was translated by AI.