Wow, I'm not jealous of the 500 million prospects who are ranked fourth in the KBO…Of course, I dream of being the first choice
Jul 27, 2025
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An unusual rookie appeared in the Doosan Bears. Choi Min-seok, a right-hander who graduated from Seoul High School and was named the 16th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 rookie draft. Since his debut season, he has been prominent by securing a starting position in the first team.
Acting Doosan manager Cho Sung-hwan said, `Choi Min-seok is really aggressive. It's really simple that I think he's the pitcher who trusts and throws his ball the best among our pitchers. The opposing batter doesn't seem to matter. I think his credit is more important. I think that looks good and the results are coming out well," he said, raising his thumb.
He has no choice but to be confident in his ball. That's what the data says. The most valuable pitch thrown by Choi Min-seok is a two-seam fastball. Choi Min-seok's induction rate of two-seam fastball grounders was 43%, the highest in the league. As of the 23rd, when Choi Min-seok last took the mound, Choi Min-seok was fourth after NC Jeon Sa-min (47.7%), Hanwha Han Seung-hyuk (44.1%) and LG Yoni Chirinos (43.1%).
Choi Min-seok ranked at the top of the 108 league pitchers with more than 50 fastball (fastball and sinker) in-play allowed until the 23rd, even in the low hit rate and pitch hit rate. Among in-play hits, the hit rate was 0.250, tied for fourth with SSG Cho Byung-hyun, and the hit rate was 0.317, ranking first in the league.
Choi Min-seok's ability to strike out is still poor, but instead, he is increasing his survival value in the first team by using his outstanding ground ball induction ability.
Since Doosan was named, two-seam fastballs have not been outstanding pitchers. Until last year when he was a high school senior, Choi Min-seok used a lot of fastballs and mixed a little bit of two-seam fastballs, but this year, he abandoned his fastballs and began actively using two-seam fastballs. This is the background of a year in which he has been equipped with a pitch type that ranks in the top four in the league.
Choi Min-seok, who met at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 26th, said "I used to throw a lot of fastballs, but I think I've improved since this winter because I completely threw away my fastballs and kept practicing two-seam fastballs. There was advice from people around me, and it's also my choice. Until high school, he threw a pitch once on a day when his fastball was not good. I'm not perfect yet, but I've refined it to the point where I can say I'm good at throwing" showed confidence.
Acting Cho said "Choi Min-seok tells him to hit the ball with the bat. Since he has a pitch that changes when a batter hits, wouldn't he naturally follow the results if he fought aggressively with the batter like now. That is very good."
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Choi Min-seok smiled saying, `It's good because it's fun to do it in a crowded place.' `Certainly, first-team hitters have much more experience. For example, even if the opponent's batter keeps throwing it because the slider is weak, he or she has the ability to put more bat in and hit it. I definitely felt that what came out of that experience was very different. In the middle of his start, he said, "I'm learning a lot of routines and ball mixing."
Doosan is trying to give Choi Min-seok a chance to gain more experience as a starter in the second half of the year. Since Kwak Bin, the next right-hander ace is not coming out, and Choi Min-seok is expected to continue the genealogy.
Acting coach Cho said, `Choi Min-seok's selection is much more attractive. If you're a high school rookie and have a few more games of experience as a starter, it'll be a real boost to our team. I don't intend to make a difference. If you have to throw twice by Sunday because you're in the mound on Tuesday, you won't change Choi Min-seok unless you have a lot of pitches on Tuesday."
Choi Min-seok said "I threw the most balls this year in my life (laughs). Physically, when I first came to the first team, it was a little difficult because I couldn't get used to it, but once I got over the hump, I'm fine. Last year, my elbow was a little bad, so I did reinforcement exercises and took good massage to manage it. I'm in good condition now that I'm used to it."
This year, the goal is to win five games, and in the long run, he dreams of becoming Doosan's first starter.
Choi Min-seok said "I used to see players in the Jamsil stands all the time, but now I'm amazed to see the stands on the Jamsil mound. When I'm a starter, I block a crisis and come down, fans sometimes call my name. Then I feel like I'm being cheered on, too. Because I always want to be the best, the first starter is of course the final goal, and I want to grow into the best starting pitcher in Doosan. I'm just starting to get started, but I'm going to aim for five wins this year," he said emphatically.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
