‘Nominate 6 people up to 3R’ Post-100-year plan to prepare for the Lee Jeong-hoo era, right-hander, left-hander, sidearm, and infielder are all collected

Kiwoom Heroes has completed the rookie draft, where the future of the club is at stake. 

Kiwoom exercised as many as six picks through the third round at the ‘2024 KBO Rookie Draft’ held at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on the 14th. All players were selected until the last 11 rounds, with 14 new players selected. 

Kiwoom, whose main hitter Lee Jeong-hoo is scheduled to enter the major league through posting, has been actively collecting rookie picks ahead of this year’s rookie draft. They gave relief pitcher Kim Tae-hoon to Samsung and received a 3rd round pick, and sent Joo Hyo-sang to KIA and received a 2nd round pick. On July 29th, ahead of the trade deadline, they traded key starting pitcher Choi Won-tae to LG and secured a first-round pick. 

Kiwoom, which nominated rookie players in succession in the 8th and 9th positions in the first round, named Seoul High School right-handed pitcher Jeon Jun-pyo as the 8th and Jangchung High School’s Kim Yun-ha as the 9th. Scouting team leader Lee Sang-won said, “Jeon Jun-pyo is a fastball type pitcher and has over 9 strikeouts per 9 innings. He nominated him after seeing a pitch that allowed him to overcome batters with his strength. Yunha Kim said, “I have a strong arm that can throw a ball in the mid to upper 140km range and my strikeout/walk ratio is really good. He revealed the reason for nominating Jeon Jun-pyo and Kim Yun-ha, saying, “I chose him because of their ability to control pace and pace.” 

In the second round, Seongnam High School infielder Lee Jae-sang was selected at the 16th rank, and left-handed pitcher Son Hyun-ki was selected at the 19th rank. In the third round, Bibongo Lee Woo-hyun, the biggest sidearm fisherman, was selected as the 24th pick, and Sekwang High School right-handed pitcher Kim Yeon-ju was selected as the 29th pick. 

Team leader Lee Sang-won, who nominated six players through the third round, smiled and said, “Honestly, I feel like I’m going to collapse,” emphasizing that he prepared really intensely for this draft. “We tried to select the players with the best skills in the rotation we could select. And we tried to select players who could fit into our team’s culture. I was really careful. I am satisfied with the results of the draft because I prepared really hard. “Nurturing is important now,” he explained. 

Lee Jae-sang, the only fielder among the top picks in the third round, is a shortstop who played 20 games this year with a batting average of .408 (29 hits in 71 at-bats), 2 home runs, 17 RBIs, 19 runs, 7 steals, and an OPS of 1.142. Team leader Lee Sang-won said, “Among the high school infielders this year, he has the best shoulders. His grip power is also top-tier, and I think the club will be able to make his strength stronger. Although it will be difficult for new players to do well in the pros right away, we will provide generous support to develop them into good players. 온라인바카라“I expect him to grow into a mid-to-long range infielder,” he explained.

Son Hyun-gi, who was nominated in the second round, said, “It is an honor to be nominated by Kiwoom Heroes. He really likes Gocheok Sky Dome and really wanted to go on the mound, so he is happy to be nominated by the club that uses Gocheok Sky Dome as its home stadium. I think my strength is that I have a fast ball and good breaking ball ability, making it difficult for batters to hit. “From now on, when you think of Kiwoom left-handed pitchers, I will work hard so that the name Son Hyun-ki will be the first thing that comes to mind,” he said of his nomination.

Regarding Lee Woo-hyun, the biggest sidearm fish, team leader Lee Sang-won said, “I can see a speed of 150 km. Lee Kang-jun joined our team not long ago, and thanks to the selection of Lee Woo-hyun, I think we have become a team with good competitive sidearm pitching with Kim Dong-hyuk, who has good movement, Lee Kang-jun and Lee Woo-hyun, who have good pitches,” he said. 

Kim Yeon-ju, who was the last of the top six rookies nominated by Kiwoom, said, “I am surprised and grateful to be nominated higher than I expected. I will work hard to become a player who lives up to expectations. (Lee) Myeongjong congratulated me a lot. It’s nice to play in the same club as his close brother, but it’s also a bit burdensome to be a competitor. As he has good ball control, I will work harder so that he can quickly join the first team. He pledged, “I will become the person for whom it is best said that small peppers are spicy.”

Looking at the five pitchers selected up to the third round, there are all different types of pitchers, including right-handed pitchers, left-handed pitchers, and sidearm pitchers. Team leader Lee Sang-won said, “We considered the types of pitchers, but we did not intentionally try to gather various types of pitchers. “But I was very lucky to select good pitchers, so I ended up nominating such a variety of pitchers.” 

Kiwoom Heroes has completed the rookie draft, where the future of the club is at stake.  Kiwoom exercised as many as six picks through the third round at the ‘2024 KBO Rookie Draft’ held at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on the 14th. All players were selected until the last 11…