'ERA from 1st to 8th Place Collapse' Hanwha's Blind Pitcher Selection? NO "Checked the farm system from last year through this year"... Lucky pick Park Ju-hong secured, along with top potential Cho Soo-hong

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Eagles swept up no fewer than eight pitchers in the rookie draft. The club aimed to secure as many candidates as possible to help rebuild its crumbling pitching mound.

On the 21st, Hanwha selected Seorak High School pitcher Min Ju-hong (18) with the 9th overall pick in the first round of the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft at the Crystal Ballroom of Seoul Lotte Hotel World.

Min pitched 44 innings in 11 games this year, posting a record of 2 wins and 4 losses with an ERA of 3.89. While his statistics were not overwhelming, he is a pitcher whose strength lies in his stable pitching, recording only 14 walks while striking out 75 batters.

The club's expectations for him were even higher than anticipated. Son Hyuk (53), president of Hanwha Eagles, said, "I was nervous wondering if this player would be the first one called," and added, "It seems we have received a really good pitcher," before selecting Min Ju-hong.

Min's father expressed his support, saying, "There is Ryu Hyun-jin, a pitcher who made a historic mark in Korean baseball history at Hanwha. I hope he becomes the second player to make another historic mark alongside him."

Starting with Min Ju-hong, Hanwha selected Yushin High School's Lee Jun-woo in the second round and Yushin High School's Park Chan-hee in the third round. In the fourth round, they chose Choi Soo-hong from Gyeongnam High School, and in the fifth round, Sung Jae-woo from Jeonju High School. All were pitchers. Hanwha was the only team to select only pitchers through the first five rounds. With evaluations that the pool of position players this season was poor, Hanwha boldly chose as many pitchers as possible who could unleash their potential instead of position players.

Hanwha called up three more pitchers: Yang Jin-hoo from Seoul Convention High School in the seventh round, Lee Jun-ho from Sego High School in the eighth round, and Lee Woo-jae from Inchang High School in the ninth round. They did not select a position player until the 10th round when they chose infielder Jeon Hyeon-dong from Gimhae High School, and then selected infielder Seo Seung-hoon from Cheongju High School in the 11th round. Kiwoom also selected eight pitchers, but differed from Hanwha by picking a position player in the second round.

Last year, Hanwha reached the Korean Series for the first time in 19 years, led by pitchers such as Cody Ponce (Toronto Blue Jays) and Ryan Weiss (Houston Astros). However, this season saw Moon Dong-ju undergo surgery, foreign pitchers underperform, and the bullpen collapse. Their ERA dropped from 3.55, ranking 1st last year, to 5.22, ranking 8th, forcing the team's performance into a downward spiral.

Hanwha seemed determined to gather pitchers in this draft, but it was actually a strategy calculated much earlier. After the draft concluded, President Son Hyuk (53) met with StarNews with a bright smile. President Son said, "We checked the farm system from last year through this year and judged that many similar pitchers would be available, so we decided to select more position players."

Last year, Hanwha held the 3rd overall pick and selected outfielder Oh Jae-won in the first round, choosing six position players in total. This year was different. Despite widespread evaluations that the pool of position players was disappointing, Hanwha decided to focus on selecting pitchers. "It went better than expected," he explained, adding, "Since our pitchers have been shaky recently, we chose one or two immediate contributors for the early part of the season."

Especially when selecting Min Ju-hong, President Son Hyuk could not hide his genuine joy. He was an unexpected gift of a player. President Son said, "I thought he wouldn't be available until our turn, so I was surprised," and added, "Choi Soo-hong (Gyeongnam High School) is the best resource in terms of potential alone. We composed the selections up to the fifth round with players intended for starting development. Park Chan-hee has a great physique and we judged his balance to be excellent as well."

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*This content was translated by AI.