"He doesn't walk batters." Korea's first development player myth, full of hope "I hope he fulfills his role today again" [Jamsil on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

Park Jun-young (24), who wrote the myth of a development player, leads the Hanwha Eagles, who are on a four-game winning streak.

Park Jun-young is scheduled to make his first start against the Doosan Bears at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on the 2nd for the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League away game.

Kim Kyung-moon (68), Hanwha's manager, met with reporters ahead of the game and expressed his expectations for Park Jun-young, saying, "First of all, he doesn't walk batters. He gets batters to hit early, which makes the game easier to manage, so it looks good from our side. I hope he does his job well today as well."

Many pitchers this season have struggled due to an excessive number of walks. Hanwha has allowed 238 walks in 52 games, ranking second in the league in this category. Therefore, Park Jun-young's growth is especially welcome.

Before the season began, Park Jun-young, who joined Hanwha as a development player, posted a dominant record of 4 wins with an ERA of 1.29 in 7 games. He made his debut on the 10th against the LG Twins, allowing zero runs over 5 innings and becoming the first development player in KBO history to earn a debut start victory.

Although he appeared twice in relief afterward, allowing runs along with walks, Park Jun-young made his next start against the NC Dinos on the 27th. He pitched 5⅔ innings and allowed 3 runs, yet demonstrated sufficient potential as one of the five starting candidates.

Since joining the first team, he has pitched 12⅔ innings in 4 games, recording 1 win with no losses and an ERA of 3.55. Notably, his batting average against in scoring position with aggressive pitching is an impressive 0.083 (12 at-bats, 1 hit allowed).

To secure a spot in the starting rotation, it is crucial to show stability in his third start as well.

Hanwha set its batting order as follows: Lee Won-seok (center fielder), Yonatan Peraza (right fielder), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Heo In-seo (catcher), Kim Tae-yeon (first baseman), Lee Do-yoon (second baseman), and Sim Woo-jun (shortstop).

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*This content was translated by AI.