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| The 80th Blue Dragon High School Baseball Championship and the weekend league king match between Bukil High School and Incheon High School held at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on the 5th. Park Jun-hyun of Bukil High School pitching. Mokdong = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.07.05/ |
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"I've already made a unanimous decision."
Again this year, the KBO Rookie Draft will be held. The draft, which will select rookies who will be active from the 2026 season, will be held on the 17th.
Representative players who will participate in the 'WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup' to be held in Okinawa, Japan from the 5th to the 14th will be able to make their final appeal through the competition. National team players mean that they are likely to be nominated in the top ranks, which is a golden opportunity to raise the ranking of the nomination as much as possible. In fact, there was a case where he showed tremendous ball power at the U-18 Asian Youth Baseball Championship held ahead of last year's draft, breaking expectations and rising to third place in the first round.
However, the candidates are usually determined from an early date. It is safe to say that this year is virtually confirmed. Bukil High School pitcher Park Joon-hyun is the main character. Park Joon-hyun is the son of former Doosan Bears coach Park Seok-min, a former star player, who did not stand out until his second year of high school, but his arrest has risen sharply since last winter, recording a maximum speed of 157km this year. He is a player who has no choice but to receive the attention of all teams just by throwing such a fast ball.
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| The 80th Blue Dragon High School Baseball Championship and the weekend league match between Gwangju Il High School and Gyeongnam High School at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on the 1st, and Kim Sung-joon of Gwangju Il High School hits in the top of the 4th inning. Mokdong = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.07.01/ |
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At first, it seemed likely to go to the U.S. Major League Baseball. Along with Kim Sung-joon (Gwangju Il High School) and Seo Do-joon (Jang Chung-go), who are expected to be the big three drafts this year, the possibility of entering the U.S. was very high. While Kim Sung-joon confirmed his joining of the Texas Rangers and Moon Jae-joon recently agreed to go to the Toronto Blue Jays, Park Joon-hyun made headlines when it was revealed that Oakland Athletics offered a large down payment of $1.6 million. It is known that it has planned hundreds of millions of won in tuition support as well as down payment. It was a proposal worth a total of 2 million dollars (about 2.8 billion won). Kim Sung-joon's down payment from Texas was $1.2 million, so it's a comparison.
However, Park Joon-hyun suddenly declared his participation in the KBO draft without much time left in the draft. Kiwoom was initially eyeing Yang Woo-jin, the ace of Gyeonggi Air High School, who declared early that Park Joon-hyun would stay in the KBO in preparation for going to the United States, but he faced a situation where he had no choice but to turn unconditionally due to the sudden news. It was such good news.
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| Lotte-Kium match held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 3rd. Before the game, Kiwoom Song Sung-moon's KBO League record of most consecutive stolen bases (34) was achieved at the awards ceremony, Gocheok = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.8.3/ |
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Then, is Park Joon-hyun's trip to Kiwoom a fait accompli. Kiwoom's general manager Huh Seung-pil said "It's still before the draft, but inside the club, there was a unanimous opinion that if Park Jun-hyun comes out, he should be selected as the first candidate." he said.
Regarding Park Joon-hyun, Huh said, `He is the best high school rookie in name and reality. The ball power coming from a sluggish body and stable pitching balance is overwhelming. There is a very high possibility that he will grow into a player who will represent the league."
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| The 80th Blue Dragon High School Baseball Championship and the weekend league king match between Bukil High School and Incheon High School held at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on the 5th. Park Jun-hyun of Bukil High School pitching. Mokdong = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.07.05/ |
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How did it feel when Park Joon-hyun suddenly said he was participating in the draft. General manager Huh said, `First of all, from our team's point of view, Park Joon-hyun's decision reflects trust and expectations for the Kiwoom club. Since he is a player who is likely to challenge the Major League in the future, the fact that he is a team that produced five major leaguers through the posting system would have influenced the decision. In addition, from the league's point of view, it can be seen that it gives positive factors to the development and box office of Korean baseball. "Park Joon-hyun's choice to challenge the KBO League despite the strong temptation of major U.S. teams with enormous financial power is so meaningful."
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| Kiwoom starter Jung Hyun-woo is pitching hard in a game between Kiwoom and LG at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 29th. Jamsil= Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.29/ |
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Kiwoom made the first overall nomination for the first time since its foundation last year and gave Chung Hyun-woo a down payment of 500 million won. Park Joon-hyun is also likely to receive a down payment of a little higher or similar size. Huh said in principle, `We plan to give reasonable treatment to the best rookie.'
Meanwhile, it was sorry for Yang Woo-jin, who was a big fan of Kiwoom and actively appealed that he wanted to join as the No. 1 player. Huh said, `We are grateful for the fact that outstanding players show affection for our club. We will try harder to make the best rookie players become the club we want to join."
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| The 80th Blue Dragon High School Baseball Championship and the weekend league match between Gyeonggi Aviation High School and Gyeongnam High School at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on the 9th. Gyeonggi Air High School starter Yang Woo-jin is cheering after overcoming the crisis with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mokdong = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.7.9/ |
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
