The last high school graduate starter from the KBOUEFA Champions League was Hongkie in 2006 when he was a junior-jin Ryu (33 and Toronto). No one has been Rookie since he played as a starter for the first season of his career for 13 years. It is as difficult for a high school graduate to play as a starter for the first season of his career.
This year's KBOUEFA Champions League Rookie competition is a two-way battle for high school graduates. LG Lee Min-ho and KT Mini standard (more than 19), who received the first nominations side by side in 2020, are the main characters. For the two, the position of "selection pitcher" is a plus element. With the emergence of new candidates here, the Rookie Race is getting hotter.
Help Lee Jung-hoo (then Nexen) - KT Kang Baek-ho -LG Jeong Woo-yeong won the Rookie of the Year award in turn for three years from 2017. Until then, "used Rookies" were strong, years after joining, but the three were on Rookie with overwhelming votes in their debut season.
This trend continues this year: Lee Min-ho, a former Whipungo, has 4 wins and 2 losses in 11Kyonggi, and Earned run average 2.97. It does not easily collapse even in a crisis. Lee Min-ho blocked two runs or fewer by throwing more than five consecutive 6Kyonggi innings from the Samsung Lions game on June 2 to the Doosan match on July 26. It is a record that the 'monster Rookie' Hyun-jin Ryu, who achieved the pitcher triple crown in 2006, did not achieve. At the time, Hyun-jin Ryu had three runs in 523 innings in the Lotte game, which was his fourth appearance in 2006.
Lee Min-ho threw a 150-kilometer fast ball and had a boldness that was not new. He also made basics such as runner checks and defenses. Thanks to this, LG is challenging the Rookie award for the second consecutive year after the Jeong Woo-yeong.
KT Mini standard from Yushin has already won seven games (5 losses). At the current pace, it is possible to achieve 10 wins in the high school Rookie debut season in 14 years after the 2006 Hyun-jin Ryu (18 wins at the time). Mini standard has the most wins and pitching innings (7523 innings) this year among Rookies, and is also the only Rookie who is normally digesting the starting rotation. Mini standard also lost four straight games in June, but all three of them became winning pitchers this month. The latest 5Kyonggi Earned run average since July is 1.52.
LG is only making it to the mound once every ten days to manage Lee Min-ho's fitness. Lee Min-ho, who threw only 5723 innings, is in quite a few innings than the Mini standard (7523). Lee Min-ho must throw more of the rest of the season to build on victory if he wants to beat the Mini standard.
Mini standard has the opposite task: 'The amount of pitch' overwhelms rivals but also needs to 'raise the quality of pitch'. The Mini standard's Earned run average is 4.64, much higher than Lee Min-ho (2.97). There is no guarantee that if you don't lower the Earned run average to three points, you will win the competition.
In the second-round composition of the Rookie Prize, Samsung Lions captain Park Hae-min, 30, threw a stone: "We have a Rookie candidate on our team, too. Kim Ji-chan, Park Seung-gyu, Kim Yoon-soo are doing really well, but it is unfortunate that it is not mentioned. "
Samsung Lions Kim Ji-chan, the shortest player in active duty (163cm), showed his competitiveness with a major player and a big defense. He has been a multiplayer infielder and outfielder, and he has recently had more opportunities to travel. He has tried 14 stolen bases and failed only once. "I wish I had given him more chances to play in the second group, but I'm sorry I can't," said Ham Sam-young, director of Samsung Lions.
Samsung Lions bullpen pitcher Kim Yoon-soo is a second-hand Rookie. He joined the Samsung Lions in the second round of the 2018 sixth round 52nd, and he has only 1123 innings last year, making his debut in the first group. Kim Yoon-soo is 3-2 with 9-hold Earned run average 3.40 this season. Starting the season as a chaser, he recently moved to a must-win group, pitching 17 innings since July to pitch an Earned run average 2.12. Kim, who is the younger brother of Hanhwa Kim Beom-soo, gained confidence by raising the average fastball arrest from 144km last year to 149km this season. Kim Ji-chan's weak point is that his batting average (0.243) is lower than his team contribution. As a bullpen pitcher, Kim Yoon-soo is in a lot of competition with starting pitchers.
In 2020, KIA 1st-place pitcher Jung Hae-young also joined Rookie Race. Jung Hae-young, the son of former KIA coach Jung Hoe-yeol, came out to 18Kyonggi in the middle of the game and recorded an average of 1.04 for 1713 innings. Seung-woon followed and already won four games.
Other candidates also appeared in the Rookie competition amid the performances of "Super Rookie" Mini standard and Lee Min-ho; newcomers don't know how to jump out or when to sink. And this year's regular season is still half the time away.
LG Lee Min-ho, KT Mini standard 2 wave pattern Samsung Lions Kim Ji-chan and Kim Yoon-soo also added