'Top Rookie of the Year Candidate' Makes First Minor League Trip: Why Lotte's Park Jung-min Blamed Himself, Saying "I Had an Obsession to Be Perfect" [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants rookie Park Jung-min (23) headed to the minor league for the first time since the season opener.

On the 29th, a Monday without baseball, Lotte removed Park Jung-min from the first-division roster. This marks the first time since he was included in the opening-day roster. His inconsistent control and struggles against leadoff batters were major factors. Despite a surface-level ERA of 1.23 over his last 10 games, he pitched only 7⅓ innings and issued 6 walks. He was pulled from the mound five times before completing even one inning.

Before heading to the minor league, Park Jung-min met with StarNews at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium and reflected, "Since May, I've shown inconsistent performance. That led to overthinking. I couldn't stop thinking, not just on the mound but even during breaks after games. There are many good seniors and mentors around me. They always told me, 'You're overthinking too much.'"

This echoed what Park Jung-min often told his younger teammates during his university days. He recalled, "Back in college, I told my juniors not to think too much about baseball outside the stadium. But hearing my seniors say the same thing here made me realize, 'I'm actually doing exactly what I shouldn't be doing.' I felt something was wrong."

Park Jung-min is a right-handed pitcher who graduated from Seodang Elementary, Maesong Middle, Jangchung High, and Hanil Christian University before being selected in the second round, 14th overall, in the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft. He was praised as an immediate impact player thanks to his fastball reaching 152 km/h and his exceptional changeup. The first month of the season proved those expectations. By the end of April, he appeared in 14 games with a 1-1 record, 5 holds, 1 save, a 3.60 ERA, and 19 strikeouts in 15 innings, earning recognition as the top candidate for Rookie of the Year.

However, the unexpected success backfired. Park Jung-min said, "Even I thought the start was too good. It went much better than expected, so I raised my own standards too high. I developed an obsession that I must keep performing well and consistently. Even with ups and downs, I believed there should be no big fluctuations and that I must be perfect. Looking back, it was a foolish thought. I was only in my first year."

He added, "Since my amateur days, I had an obsession with constant growth. I thought opponents would start analyzing me and I needed to make changes. But now, I've completely let go of that mindset. I step onto the mound with a clear mind, focusing only on what I can do well. I'm grateful if I don't give up runs, and my goal is simply to avoid giving up runs."

College graduates bring rich experience and a mature mindset born from the desperation of having been drafted unsuccessfully once. Yet, they are still just young men in their early 20s. On the professional stage, they aren't vastly different from 20-year-old high school graduates. This is where Lotte's veteran pitchers excel — helping them understand and feel at ease.

Park Jung-min said, "Refreshment is most important for players. After games, you must know how to stop thinking about baseball. Actually, that was my strength. I believe I was a player with clear on-off balance until college. But in the pros, that hasn't worked well." He continued, "There are truly great seniors. Senior Hyun Do-hoon and Senior Kim Won-joong shared a lot of advice. Younger seniors like (Choi) Jun-yong and (Kim) Jin-wook also offered valuable guidance, which was a huge help."

Now given time for reorganization, Park Jung-min plans to focus on increasing his usage rate of a third pitch beyond his fastball and changeup. He reflected, "I believe my strengths are trusting my fastball's velocity and my changeup's ability to locate strikes well. Early in the season, the results were good, so I thought batters couldn't easily hit my fastball and changeup."

He continued, "However, because the results were good, I used my changeup too frequently. Naturally, batters read my patterns, leading to many extra-base hits. Trying to avoid those, I aimed more for the corners, which created a vicious cycle of more walks. Especially against left-handed batters, I threw too many changeups. Now, I plan to throw more sliders for strikes and reduce my changeup usage."

There was also good news for Park Jung-min upon being notified of his minor league assignment. He was selected as an All-Star by manager recommendation alongside Hyun Do-hoon and Kim Jin-wook. At the time of the interview, before the official announcement, Park Jung-min smiled brightly, saying, "I didn't expect to make the All-Star team since, objectively, I had no chance."

Rather than that, he hopes to become a player who can make Busan Lotte fans smile until the end of the season, raising high expectations for his return. Park Jung-min stated confidently, "I still believe I can do better. My goal is not just a temporary return, but to become a player the team can consistently trust and fans can look forward to."

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*This content was translated by AI.