'Is he really a development player?' Hanwha's Park Jun-young, who threw 5 scoreless innings with a 56% first-pitch strike rate, kept his promise to "face opponents head-on without dodging" [Daejeon]

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Eagles' Park Jun-young (24) thrilled fans with an impressive debut performance in the KBO League.

On the 10th, Park Jun-young recorded 5 innings, 3 hits allowed, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 0 earned runs in a home game against LG Twins at the Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park during the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season.

It was a stable pitching performance that would be hard to believe came from a development player. On this day, Park Jun-young threw a total of 79 pitches: 43 fastballs, 19 sliders, 12 changeups, and 5 curveballs. He did not shy away from inside battles, maximizing the advantages of an unfamiliar pitcher. His fastest fastball reached 142 km/h. Of the 79th pitches, 48 were called strikes.

However, he struck 9 out of 16 first pitches that did not result in contact (56%) into the strike zone, gaining favorable count advantages. In the top of the 1st inning, Park Jun-young got Hong Chang-ki to look at a slider low and inside the strike zone for a strikeout. He then walked Kwon Bon-hyeok and gave up a double to Austin, putting himself in a difficult situation. But he retired Oh Ji-hwan with a swing-and-miss strikeout using a slider and changeup, and induced a groundout to shortstop from Cheon Seong-ho, shutting out the inning without allowing any runs.

After navigating the dangerous 1st inning well, Park Jun-young began to throw his pitches with stability. He finished the 2nd inning with just 8 pitches, actively mixing changeups and sliders to induce swings and misses from LG batters. In the top of the 4th, with two outs, he walked Song Chan-ui and gave up a double to Lee Young-bin, once again facing a bases-loaded situation. However, he induced a flyout to third base from Park Dong-won with a high changeup, continuing his scoreless pitching.

Park Jun-young's aggressive approach to throwing strikes shone even in the final inning. With no outs and a runner on first in the top of the 5th, he repeatedly threw two-seam fastballs to Hong Chang-ki, inducing a groundout to first base and recording two outs via a double play. A batted ball from Kwon Bon-hyeok, who targeted the first pitch, also became a groundout, allowing Park Jun-young to meet the requirements for a win.

Park Jun-young is a right-handed pitcher who graduated from Yeongil Elementary, Yeongnam Middle, Chungam High School, and Cheongwon University before joining Hanwha as a development player. He made his way to Hanwha after passing a test held in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do following the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft. He shares the same name as Park Jun-young (23, 2022 2nd Round, 1st Pick), who started for Hanwha against LG in Daejeon on the 8th.

This season, in 7 Futures League games, he posted 4 wins with no losses, an ERA of 1.29, 28 strikeouts in 28 innings, and a batting average against of 0.186, leading the combined Southern and Northern Leagues in ERA. On the 7th, he and teammate Bae Seung-su (23) were also named the 2026 Medihill KBO Futures League 3rd-4th Month Medihill Futures Rookie Award winners.

Hanwha's organization explained, "He has starting experience from his college days and received good evaluations for his stamina and control. He is a three-quarter type pitcher whose fastball reaches the mid-140s km/h. He was primarily used as a starter in the Futures League and, as of April, was able to handle up to around 80 pitches."

Ahead of his debut, Park Jun-young shared through the organization, "I thought that if I worked hard in the Futures League, a good opportunity might come. I want to show a good performance through this opportunity. In the Futures League, I focused on every single pitch every time I stepped on the mound. I think throwing every pitch without regret led to these good results."

He continued, "Honestly, as my first start in the first division, I was nervous and even scared. But I will face opponents head-on without dodging. I want to throw my pitches without regret. I think my strengths are not giving many walks and approaching games with a consistently positive mindset. Going forward, I will prepare well to become a player who can climb even higher using this opportunity as a stepping stone. I will show a good performance so that fans can have confidence that I can win whenever I step on the mound."

And Park Jun-young kept that promise before a full house of 17,000 spectators, the 18th largest crowd of the season.

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*This content was translated by AI.