I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly

Jun 27, 2025

I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
Hanwha Eagles Moon Dong-joo is interviewing after becoming the winning pitcher against the Samsung Lions on the 26th. Daegu = Reporter Kwon In-ha



I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
A game between the NC Dinos and the Hanwha Eagles at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 20th. Hanwha Moon Dong-ju is pitching hard. Ulsan=Park Jae-man Reporter pjm@sportschosun.com/2025.05.20/
I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
The match between Samsung and Hanwha at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th. Moon Dong-ju, who shares high-fives with his colleagues while coming down the mound in the sixth inning. Daegu=Song Jeong-heon, reporter song@sportschosun.com/2025.06.26/
"I think I'll be able to sleep comfortably today."

I guess it's a burden even if the team is doing too well. Moon Dong-joo of Hanwha Eagles 'Daejeon Prince' became the winning pitcher in 37 days. It's our 6th win.

Moon Dong-ju started in an away game against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th and pitched five hits (one home run) and one walk in five ⅔ innings, leading his team to a 3-1 victory. He became the winning pitcher again in 37 days after winning the match against the NC Dinos in Daejeon on May 20 (four hits and no runs in six innings).




After poor performance of six runs in four ⅔⅔ innings against Lotte on May 25, he returned from LG on the 15th after a longer break than expected, but he still pitched uneasy with six hits and four runs in three ⅔ innings.

However, in this match against Samsung, he showed stable performance after getting out of the crisis in the early stages and gave the team a victory.

Moon Dong-ju, who overcame the crisis with one out and runners on first and second bases in the bottom of the first inning and two out and runners on first and second bases in the bottom of the second inning, seemed to find stability by treating the bottom of the third inning as his first three-out withdrawal. Unfortunately, however, he lost his first point in the bottom of the fourth inning after being hit by a solo shot by Kang Min-ho. In the advantageous count of 2S, a 151km fastball was driven to the center, and veteran batter Kang Min-ho did not miss it and connected it to a home run. Fortunately, he maintained a sense of stability after that and was replaced by Park Sang-won in front of Kang Min-ho, who hit a home run in his previous at-bat after allowing a hit to Park Byung-ho after two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Moon Dong-ju, who sprayed 88 balls on the day, sprayed 43 fastballs with a maximum speed of 158km, and added fork balls (19), curves (14), and sliders (12) to quell Samsung's batters.




When asked how he felt about winning for the first time in a long time, Moon Dong-ju said, "It's good to win." I wanted to show you a good result and sleep comfortably, but I think I can sleep comfortably today"I think I'm grateful and happy to be able to contribute this time, even though the team continues to stay in first place with good performance."

Thank you catcher Choi Jae-hoon for working together. Moon Dong-ju said "The game could have been difficult because there were many balls in the beginning, but I think there was a good result because Choi Jae-hoon somehow dragged and held it."

I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
The match between Samsung and Hanwha at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th. Moon Dong-ju, who shares high-fives with his colleagues while coming down the mound in the sixth inning. Daegu=Song Jeong-heon, reporter song@sportschosun.com/2025.06.26/
I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
A game between the NC Dinos and the Hanwha Eagles at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 20th. Hanwha Moon Dong-ju is catching his breath. Ulsan=Park Jae-man Reporter pjm@sportschosun.com/2025.05.20/
I think I can sleep comfortably today. A 22-year-old, 158-km prospect is so burdensome. He's the winning pitcher for the first time in 37 days, but he couldn't even smile properly
The match between Samsung and Hanwha at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th. Moon Dong-ju, who shares high-fives with his colleagues while coming down the mound in the sixth inning. Daegu=Song Jeong-heon, reporter song@sportschosun.com/2025.06.26/
Other pitchers are strong against Daegu and Samsung, which are struggling. With this victory, it is the fifth consecutive win against Samsung and four consecutive wins in Daegu from the game on April 6, 2023. Since that day, Moon Dong-ju has taken the mound in five games against Samsung in Daegu alone, recording four wins, no losses and an ERA of 0.94.

When I asked Dong-ju Moon why, the answer came back "I don't know." Dong-ju Moon said, `There seems to be a clear difference between a strong team and a weak team"A strong team gives confidence, but a weak team gives a strong desire to overcome it." Let's ask why he's performing well in Daegu. "When I come to 'Rapak', I try to throw more concentrated and go in aggressively. "Samsung's batting lineup is not easy, and it's easy to lose a lot of runs when runners are laid down, so I think he's boldly going in with the idea of hitting a solo home run. In the meantime, good results continue to follow, so I think I'm gaining confidence on my own."

Now, he only needs to add four more wins to his first 10 wins. However, when asked about his 10th win, Moon Dong-ju said "You have to do it." I felt a great deal of pressure on him. When asked if it's burdensome "It's a lie to say it's not burdensome. I used to say there was none, but I'm sure there is one these days."

Now in his fourth year of debut, a 22-year-old young pitcher is throwing well and under the pressure of becoming a winning pitcher. As the team ranks first, the burden seems to have increased. However, he is the fifth starter in the team and is still a prospect who needs to grow. He is a promising prospect who is likely to be an ace, and he only received the opportunity first, but he is not an ace. Even though he became a winning pitcher, I felt worried on his face that he couldn't smile much.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.