Moon Dong-joo (20, Hanwha), the KBO league’s young gun ‘fireballer’, will pitch a ‘golden pitch’ at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, 먹튀검증 which is approaching 100 days ahead.
Moon Dong-ju, who throws the 160 km light-speed ball of his dreams, is a pitcher with all-time talent. He raised expectations early as a prospect who will be responsible for the future of Korean baseball from the time he received Hanwha’s first nomination last year, and after going through a professional adaptation period in the 2022 season, he is throwing a powerful ball this year.
The fastball at 160.1 km per hour (according to Sports 2 I PTS, the official professional baseball statistics company) taken at the time of the KIA match on April 12 is the highest restraint ever by a domestic pitcher. Although it is still regrettable that he has ups and downs and unrefined control, his performance so far this season has been good enough to wear the Taegeuk mark.
Moon Dong-ju, who met at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 11th, said, “I feel very happy to be selected for the national team.” He said, “(Even if the opponent in the Asian Games is weak) it is baseball again that you do not know what will happen,” he said, “I will only think about fighting and winning.”
He, who played the role of an ace as a high school student at the 2021 Under 23 Baseball World Cup in his third year at Gwangju Jinheung High School, said, “I learned a lot while having fun with my brothers at that time.” I think it will work out. I am closest to Lee Eui-ri (KIA) hyung, whom I have seen a lot since I was young, and I will learn a lot from the national team seniors.”
With his skills, he was able to follow in the footsteps of Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto), who he had chosen as a role model after being named Hanwha, while carving the Taegeuk mark on his chest. Moon Dong-joo and Ryu Hyun-jin have a similar joining process. Ryu Hyun-jin was from Dongsan High School in Incheon, but he wore a Hanwha uniform when catcher Lee Jae-won of the same region received the first nomination from SK (now SSG), a club related to Incheon. From the first year of his debut at Hanwha, he stood tall as the best pitcher in the league, and even advanced to the major leagues by raging in international competitions such as winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Moon Dong-joo was also called to Hanwha after KIA, a club related to Gwangju, nominated infielder Kim Do-young for the first time. In his first season, he didn’t show much because he spent a long time in rehabilitation, but in his second year, he fully showed his potential and was selected for the national team. Moon Dong-joo said, “It is true that I have a lot of difference from senior Ryu Hyun-jin and that I am lacking, but I am following him diligently.” When asked if it would be possible for Ryu Hyun-jin to win 100 victories beyond the 98 he won at Hanwha, he smiled and said, “I will try.”
Also, the reason I was particularly happy with the Asian Games Taegeuk mark was because I was able to keep my promise with my father. His father is the head coach of the Jangheung-gun Office track and field team, Moon Joon-heum, a former hammer thrower. Moon Dong-ju, who started baseball under the influence of his father, who liked baseball, dreamed of playing for the national team after seeing his father, who went to the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games as a national team coach, and promised to participate in the tournament. Moon Dong-ju said proudly, “I heard the news about the national team and my family really liked it.”
Responsibility now takes precedence over joy. Until the Asian Games, steady performance is needed. Moon Dong-ju, who struggled with an average ERA of 1.08 with 1 win and 1 loss in 3 games after the opening, struggled with 1 win, 3 losses and 7.59 ERA in 5 games afterwards. In addition, he is riding a roller coaster, throwing well against Kiwoom on the 1st (7 innings, no runs) and Doosan on the 7th (6 innings, 1 run) on the 1st of this month, but collapsing again against Lotte on the 13th (2.2 innings, 6 runs).
Moon Dong-ju said, “I can get excited at the moment of a game and get out of balance, but I need to develop the ability to quickly correct this. That’s his pitching ability,” he pointed out his own homework. He is also putting down his greed for the light speed ball. He said, “It is important to throw strikes in international competitions. He added, “It is correct to think about how to win rather than being greedy for speed.”
It is Moon Dong-ju’s responsibility to take care of Jang Hyun-seok (Masan Yongma High School), the youngest pitcher in the national team. Jang Hyeon-seok, the biggest player in high school, is a pitcher who is likely to be nominated by Hanwha next year. As long as he does not challenge overseas, he can be a junior in Moon Dong-joo’s team. Hanwha fans are also expecting a lot from the composition of the ‘Light Speed Ball Trio’ consisting of Moon Dong-ju, Kim Seo-hyun and Jang Hyun-seok. Moon Dong-joo said, “Since I was selected because I have good abilities, I don’t think I will take care of anything else.”