Desperate to capture the scout → Found the stone of Pilseungjo...To be able to retire as a 148km perfect one-club man centered on the No. 1 batting average
Jul 20, 2025
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Kim Han-joong (24, Doosan Bears) pitched against the Lotte Giants in Busan on the 10th, the last game of the first half, and recorded an inning perfect.
After graduating from Gyeonggi Sang High School and Ajou University, he joined Doosan as a nurturing player in 2025. He showed good performance with a 2.29 ERA in 19 ⅔ innings in 16 Futures League games, and was called up to the first team on the 4th.
Doosan said "Last year, the fastball was close to 150km, but the breaking ball was weak. He signed a contract as a nurturing player, but he focused on cleaning up with coach Kwon Myung-chul. Now he uses slider changeups, but he showed good performance in the game by maintaining his fastball pitching and installing breaking balls", he explained.
A 9-0 lead gave us a chance. The score gap widened, but it was Lotte's central batting line leading to Jung Hoon, Victor Reyes, and Jeon Jun-woo. Lotte ranked first in the league with a team batting average of 280 in the first half. In particular, Reyes set a new KBO League regular-season hit record with 202 hits last year, and he is a slugger who continues to rank No. 1 in batting average this year.
As a debut opponent, the opponent's center batting line, which could be a burden, was cleared with two flying balls and a ground ball. In particular, the first pitch thrown against Reyes was taken at 148 kilometers. Kim Han-joong is the center of Lotte and he was a veteran. Rather than being intimidated, I thought I should throw it confidently because I have nothing to lose" and "The confident game led to a good result."
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Kim Han-joong said "I think it was a good opportunity for both the first-team debut and Futures All-Star."My mother really took care of me when I wasn't drafted. It was nice to show you how I came up to the first team and even to show you how I played in the Futures All-Star Game." He continued "I think I was able to get up to the comfortable margin because the fielders gave up a lot of points. Thanks to you, I was able to make my debut well"Thank you.
After the first-team call-up, he was unable to take the mound for five days. It was a nervous time to go back to the second division without a debut match. Kim Han-joong was playing Futures before the call-up. I told (Kim) Jun-sang, who was first in the first team, 'I'm jealous', but Jun-sang also 'You can do it'. We talked like this, but the manager called me in the morning and told me to pack my bags and go up. "Honestly, I kept thinking that I didn't know when I would go down. I thought other older brothers who came down for a short break during the All-Star break could come up."
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He continued "I knew it was not easy to come up to the first team as a nurturing player, so I tried to prepare steadily thinking that I would be able to go up if I did well in the second team." Then I thought there would be an opportunity this year or next year, but he quickly called me to the first team. As much as you gave me the chance quickly, I think it's good because I showed you my skills."
Both in high school and college, he was frustrated in the rookie draft. Doosan saw Kim Han-joong's desperation. Kim Han-joong "The scout team leader contacted me after the draft. There is an arrest, but he said he was a little disappointed in the management of the game. He said that he looked so desperate. "I always wanted to be confident in my attitude on the field, but I think the team leader also liked that part." he said.
I also had a special experience in the first team. On the 6th, Doosan held a retirement ceremony for infielder Kim Jae-ho. Kim Jae-ho joined Doosan in 2004 and played as a one-club man until last year. Kim Han-joong said, `When Kim Jae-ho was in the first team, he had a retirement ceremony, and I thought I wanted to become a player who could have such a grand retirement ceremony as a one-club man.'
Kim Han-joong picked Major League legend Pedro Martinez as his role model. Martinez rose to the Hall of Fame with overwhelming pitching against batters, including 300 strikeouts in a season. Kim Han-joong "It was cool to see him throw confidently with the ideal pitching form I think from an early age. I will make sure that I can be that kind of player as well."
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
