The Hanwha Eagles’ goal this season is to reach the top five and play fall baseball. It’s not a “let’s do our best” goal, it’s a goal that must be achieved one way or another.
In past years, we haven’t given a specific ranking, but this year we’re taking a different approach. From the top of the organization to the managers, coaches, players, and front of house, everyone is saying “top 5” with one voice.
On the 30th, Hanwha sets off for the top five. The team leaves for the first spring camp in Melbourne, Australia.
The core strength of the team.
They are the starting pitchers. Among them, Moon Dong-ju (21), a third-year high school graduate, holds the ‘key’. It is time for him to play the role of ‘current ace’ instead of ‘future ace’ of Hanwha. All eyes are on Moon, along with foreign pitchers Felix Peña (34) and Ricardo Sanchez (28).
In a recent meeting in Daejeon, Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho said, “Besides the two foreign players, Moon Dong-ju, we are undecided about the other two starting spots. 바카라사이트 Kim Min-woo (29), Lee Tae-yang (34), Kim Ki-jung (22) and Hwang Jun-seo (19) are competing for the fourth and fifth spots.” “I couldn’t do it last year, so I have to compete this year,” he said of Kim Min-woo, who has been the No. 1 starter in Korea in recent years.
Moon Dong-ju, who was one of the options in the five-man starting rotation last year, is a key pillar this year. With two years of experience in the domestic league and international competitions such as the Asian Games, we have high hopes for him.
It’s a different level of performance from Peña,
Peña is entering his third season, and Sanchez, who decided to re-sign after a series of twists and turns. He needs to go beyond being an up-and-comer and become an outright ace. He needs to shake things up.
We’re still waiting for the “game-changer” Ryu Hyun-jin to decide to return, but it seems unlikely. It would be nice to see a major turnaround in spring training, but it’s better for his mental health to keep his hopes up. In Ryu’s absence, the much-improved Moon Dong-ju is a realistic alternative to lead Hanwha’s renaissance.
First round pick in 2022. The past two seasons have been a warm-up period. His rookie year ended after 28⅔ innings due to injury. Last year, his innings were managed at the club level. I pitched 118⅔ innings in the regular season and helped the team win the Hangzhou Asian Games. He finished his second season without any major injuries.
This year, he is “going full speed ahead” without a mechanical innings limit. “If I don’t feel well, I can take a break to adjust,” Choi said. It’s the same for other pitchers. We won’t give them a set number of innings or games to rest.”
Moon threw 482 pitches in 2022 and 2067 pitches in 2023.
If he finishes the season injury-free this year, he will have started more than 30 games and pitched more than 180 innings. Double-digit wins are a given, beyond last year’s eight wins 토토사이트 순위 (8-8, 3.72 ERA). Peña’s 177⅓ innings and 11 wins last season were tops on the team in both categories.
Moon has been diligent and motivated this offseason. He left for the United States on Dec. 21 and returned on Dec. 24 after more than a month of personal training.
Hanwha’s top-five hopes are on the move with ace Moon Dong-ju.