Three young pitchers competing for the 2023 KBO League Rookie of the Year started out side by side on the same day. However, all three seemed to hesitate.
Among the five KBO League matches held on the 25th, Lee Yong-jun (21, NC Dinos) played against Sajik NC-Lotte, Dong-ju Moon (20, Hanwha Eagles) played against Daejeon KIA-Hanwha, and Song Young-jin (19, SSG Landers) played against Incheon LG-SSG. Came out as a starting pitcher.
These are the players who stand out in the early KBO League Rookie of the Year race. Lee Yong-jun, who was not in the starting lineup, is making a surprising start with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 2.45 in 7 games (6 starts). Moon Dong-joo, who has been highly anticipated since last year, is steadily circling the starting rotation with 2 wins, 4 losses and an average ERA of 4.50, although his momentum has slowed down recently. Song Young-jin, a rookie high school graduate this year, was also showing good form with 3 wins and an average ERA of 3.95.
Lee Yong-jun, Moon Dong-ju, and Song Young-jin are currently competing fiercely with Kim Dong-ju (21, Doosan Bears) and Park Myeong-geun (19, LG Twins) to be the best rookie of the year. Therefore, it was expected that the three players would start side by side. Especially when someone was sluggish, it could have been an opportunity to take a step ahead of the competition if they fought hard.
However, all three pitchers who appeared in the game on the 25th failed to gain an advantage. Song Young-jin was the first to shake. From the beginning of the first inning, he created a crisis with bases loaded against LG, and gave up 5 runs in just one inning thanks to Oh Ji-Hwan’s hit, Moon Bo-Kyung’s sacrifice fly, and Park Dong-Won’s three-run home run.
Even in the second inning, Song Young-jin brought the first and third bases safely, and Moon Seong-joo allowed one more point with a timely hit. After making the bases full again, he ended the inning by handling Oh Ji-hwan with a fly ball to second baseman and Bo-gyeong Moon with a ground ball to second baseman. In the end, Song Young-jin was replaced with left-hander Baek Seung-gun in the third inning and went down the mound.
Lee Yong-jun also played fewer innings than expected. He gave up a walk to lead batter Kim Min-seok in the beginning of the first inning, and gave up the first run on consecutive hits to Ahn Kwon-soo and Jeon Jun-woo. Ahn Chi-hong’s sacrifice fly in the 4th ended the first inning with 2 runs.
In the next inning, Jegu didn’t listen. Koh Seung-min’s double and Jeong Bo-geun’s sacrifice bunt made the first out and third base walks in a row, and it shook. In the process, Lotte tried to cut the catcher’s throw to second base during Lotte’s double steal attempt, but failed to catch it and failed to stop Ko Seung-min’s home steal. Lee Yong-jun also changed to Lee Jun-ho with the start of the 3rd inning and ended his appearance.
Moon Dong-ju also advanced runners with a walk and a balk in the first inning, and gave up a run on a timely hit by Choi Hyung-woo in the fourth, but kept the second inning scoreless and seemed to be making a different start than the previous two players.
However, Moon Dong-ju entered the third inning and caught the first two batters well, but Socrates Brito hit and Choi Hyeong-woo walked to accumulate runners. He then committed a wild fight and sent both players into scoring range, and after a full count match against No. 5 Ko Jong-wook, he allowed a double that went over the right fielder’s height and tied the score 3-3. Even in the 4th inning, Mun Dong-ju was not in control, and he brought one out to 1st and 2nd base, but no additional runs were conceded.
On this day,안전놀이터 Song Young-jin gave up 6 runs on 3 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings, and Lee Yong-joon gave up 3 runs on 3 runs on 3 runs in 2 innings, and was beaten without digesting even 3 runs side by side. Moon Dong-ju recorded 5 hits, 3 runs and 3 runs in 4 innings, but he also failed to come up in the 5th inning.