It's his debut as a starter, and he almost suffered a perfect five-inning shock humiliation. Did KIA hit it badly or did Moon Yong-ik throw it well

Aug 31, 2025

It's his debut as a starter, and he almost suffered a perfect five-inning shock humiliation. Did KIA hit it badly or did Moon Yong-ik throw it well
Photo courtesy=KT 위즈



KIA didn't hit it well, Moon Yong-ik threw it well.

KIA Tigers fans must have been shocked by the KT Wiz match held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 30th. In addition to being completely defeated 2-8, he suffered no hits until the eighth inning, only to escape the team's no-hitter in the ninth inning.

He was completely beaten by KT starter Moon Yong-ik. So it was a bigger shock. A pitcher who has consistently pitched as a starter might not know, because this day almost hit a perfect five innings by 'temporary starter', who will debut as a starter for the first time since joining the professional team in 2019. With two outs in the fourth inning, no KIA batters got on base until the fifth inning except for Na Sung-bum's walk. No hit, one walk, eight strikeouts and perfect pitching in five innings. That's how he won his first sweet victory in his starting debut.




Moon Yong-ik joined KT as a compensation player for FA Kim Jae-yoon ahead of last season. Samsung revealed its presence to some extent with a bullpen that sprays more than 150 kilometers of fastballs, and KT named Moon Yong-ik in anticipation of becoming a new bullpen must-win group.

However, adapting to the new team was not easy. KT is especially famous for its strong bullpen. It was not easy to get a chance in the first team without a certain self-defense weapon. He played in 12 games last year and had a 12.19 ERA.

It's his debut as a starter, and he almost suffered a perfect five-inning shock humiliation. Did KIA hit it badly or did Moon Yong-ik throw it well
Photo courtesy=KT 위즈
This year, he only came out as a bullpen in 13 games before the game. But why was he suddenly a starter. KT's Cho Hyung-joon went to the bullpen and returned as a starter, but he has to rest for more than a week. On top of that, Bae Je-seong also went to the second team. A replacement selection was needed.




Coach Lee Kang-chul did not start anyone without any countermeasures. In fact, when Moon Yong-ik was called up this year, he came out as a bullpen due to team circumstances, but he was constantly receiving starting classes in the second division. We found resources to prepare for selection in case an alternative selection agent was needed, and Moon Yong-ik was selected. Manager Lee, a pitching expert, found that Moon Yong-ik threw a fast ball to the bullpen, but his control was not stable, so he expected that he would be able to catch the ball if he relaxed and threw for a long time as a starter.

For such a long time, I received the compensation I had prepared properly. The player himself showed the possibility of switching to the starting lineup, and KT, which is busy to go in the semifinal fight, secured a valuable victory. Assuming that KT goes to fall baseball in the future, this game could be an important turning point.

On this day, Moon Yong-ik threw off the image of 'fireballer' and succeeded in transforming himself into a forkballer. He hit a maximum fastball speed of 151 km, but the important thing is that he threw only 16 fastballs out of a total of 73 balls. He threw a whopping 44 fork balls. Moon Yong-ik was originally a fastball-slider two-pitch type pitcher. However, he came to KT and honed his folk ball to survive, and the secret weapon properly exploded on the day. KIA batters are also very likely to have been embarrassed by the unfamiliar pitches and game management of Moon Yong-ik.








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.