Eui-ri Lee is leading the way by widening the gap… Lotte-Kiwoom Will the pursuit of the best prospects begin?

The KBO League 2022 rookie draft is remembered as a class in which pitchers with good skills and potential came out and thrilled many fans. This can also be confirmed in the down payment, which determines the value of players at the time.

So Joon So (kt), who was evaluated as a starter with a perfect and immediate sense of power while ranking high school, received 360 million won in down payment at the time of joining. In the 2022 rookie draft, two players overtook the contract money of So-jun Sohn.

Deoksu High School right-hander Jang Jae-young, who received a lot of attention from the major leagues, signed with Kiwoom for a staggering amount of 900 million won. Gangneung High School left-hander Kim Jin-wook, who was not inferior to Jang Jae-young in terms of his immediate skills and performance, also received 370 million won. This is the part where you can read the expectations for the two pitchers at the time.

Based on his strong physique, Jang Jae-young came into the limelight as a pitcher who could throw a ball at a speed of over 150 km per hour. Scouts evaluated that he had excellent potential as a pitcher as well as a hitter. Expectations were high that Kim Jin-wook would settle into the first team sooner than Jae-young Jang because of his good pitch, skillful game management, and high completion rate of breaking balls compared to his peers. He was the ace of the youth representative right away.

However, among the motives for joining at the time, the most advanced pitcher was Eui-ri Lee (KIA). Of course, Eui-Ri Lee was also a promising player with high expectations, being evaluated as one of the ‘Big 3’ lefties along with Kim Jin-wook and Lee Seung-hyun (Samsung). Still, it is hard to deny that Kim Jin-wook was rated better for the skills he showed right away in high school, and Jang Jae-young for his potential. Lee’s Lee is leading his classmates by making good use of the opportunities that have come to him.

In the first season of 2021, he threw 94⅔ innings in 19 games and showed potential with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses and an earned run average of 3.61. Although he could not finish due to injury, he showed impressive performances at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and eventually won the Rookie of the Year award. Last year, he recorded an average ERA of 3.86 with 10 wins and 10 losses in 29 games, and had a meaningful season, achieving all of his first 10 wins and first regulation innings 스포츠토토 after his debut. It seems that he is running at full speed, widening the gap with his peers.

Such Lee Eui-ri proudly made his name on the list of representative players for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will be held in March. He wears his Taegeuk mark again and throws his ball against the world’s top players. On the other hand, Kim Jin-wook and Jang Jae-young, who have not shown clear performance for two years, fly to Australia to sharpen their knives. He joined as a member of the Australian League Geelong Korea and is struggling to create something of his own.

He can feel unusual determination in that he is giving up until the offseason break and throwing the ball. In fact, his grades don’t mean that much. The goal is to create a weapon that will be useful in the future career in a place where the sexual burden is relatively low. These can be precious times in a player’s career.

Players with good potential often gain momentum after taking the first step of their career smoothly. Fans are waiting for such an opportunity in 2023 for Kim Jin-wook and Jang Jae-young. They’re too attractive to keep aside, and they’re the ones who must come out of their shells for the club’s long-term success.