'Even Yeom Gyang-ryeong was impressed': SSG's all-time rookie, 'First team QS in 9 games' — a native ace presence

*This content was translated by AI.

"I always thought he was a pitcher with very high potential for development."

Rookie pitcher Kim Min-jun (20, SSG Landers) has confidently emerged as a pitcher drawing league-wide attention. Living up to the evaluation of being a 'complete rookie,' he is delivering stable pitching more than anyone else and taking steps closer to becoming a native ace.

Kim Min-jun has appeared in 9 games this season, pitching 43⅔ innings with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, an ERA of 4.12, and a batting average against of just 0.220. He has recorded 4 quality starts (QS: starting pitcher pitching at least 6 innings while allowing no more than 3 earned runs).

The collapse of the starting rotation was the most decisive factor in SSG's fall from third place last year to ninth place this season.

However, since the second half of the season, the starting rotation's ERA has risen to third place at 3.92, with Kim Min-jun at the center. Kim Min-jun, who showed the most dominant performance in high school leagues last year, confidently won the grand prize at the Futures Star Awards organized by StarNews. After graduating from Daegu High School, he was drafted sixth overall in the first round by SSG and secured a spot in the starting rotation early on during spring training. This reflected the evaluation that he is a pitcher with high completeness.

Although shoulder pain delayed his debut until June, he quickly adapted to the professional stage. Starting from his scoreless 6-inning outing against Lotte Giants on the 23rd of last month through his 2-run 6-inning performance against Doosan Bears on the 29th, he went on a two-game winning streak and delivered another strong 6-inning, 2-run performance against LG Twins on the 4th.

Kim Min-jun became the first high school rookie to achieve back-to-back quality starts in 24 years since Je Chun-mo (SK) in 2002, extending his record from two games to three against LG and rewriting the franchise's history (including the SK era).

Building on a fastball that approaches 150 km/h, he has added a forkball and curve, and recently incorporated a slider taught by Pedro Avila, further enhancing his completeness. This is a trait not typical of a rookie, boosting Kim Min-jun's value.

Although he faced early difficulties in games, with a batting average against reaching 0.324 in the second inning, he has managed long innings by demonstrating excellent crisis management skills, limiting his batting average against to just 0.235 in scoring positions.

Ahead of the game on the 4th, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop met with reporters and said, "I always thought he was a pitcher with very high potential for development," adding, "The more games he plays and the more experience he gains, the better pitcher he will become," expressing his expectations.

Manager Yeom's expectations were turned into a dagger for LG. Watching this unfold, Doosan manager Lee Sung-yong could not help but smile with satisfaction. After the game, he expressed his satisfaction: "Kim Min-jun had some control issues in the first two innings and threw many pitches, but from the third inning onward, he regained stability and recorded three consecutive quality starts. Although he didn't secure the win, he showed composure beyond his years in game management, confirming that he continues to grow as a starting pitcher."

Kim Min-jun said, "I had no awareness of the personal record for QS while on the mound. I only thought about what role I could play for our team's victory and threw the ball accordingly." He added, "Although it was a crisis situation, I knew I had a good historical record against Austin in the batter's box. So instead of overthinking or avoiding him, I decided to trust my pitches and compete with more confidence, which led to a good result," displaying composure beyond his years as a rookie.

Having rewritten franchise history, Kim Min-jun has climbed to second place on the team in wins (4) behind Kim Geon-woo (7 wins) after just 9 games, and leads the team with 4 quality starts. This raises expectations for how significant a role he will play within the team in the future.

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*This content was translated by AI.