Bursting body, 176km batting speed. Who the hell is Kim Jooh, the second Ahn Hyun-min

Sep 18, 2025

Bursting body, 176km batting speed. Who the hell is Kim Jooh, the second Ahn Hyun-min
2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Masan Yongmago Kim Joo-oh, who was nominated in the first round by Doosan, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/



Who is Kim Joo-oh.

Doosan Bears fans may have been stunned watching the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft held on the 17th.

Doosan had the seventh overall nomination right in the first round, and general manager Kim Tae-ryong called "Masan Yongmago Kim Joo-oh."




Whether he was nervous or had Samsung in mind, he shouted "Doosan Lions" at the podium, and successfully attracted everyone's attention. However, curiosity remained.

The other first round picks are players whose names have been mentioned countless times ahead of the draft. There was only a difference in order, but all of them were expected to be selected in the first round. However, since Kim Joo-oh was a player whose name was hardly mentioned, Doosan fans may doubt that 'Why did you pick this player?' Furthermore, although it is said that there is an aftermath of elbow fatigue fractures, it drew more attention because it was a choice that skipped Yang Woo-jin, a Gyeonggi Air High School pitcher who was mentioned as the No. 1 candidate overall.

Bursting body, 176km batting speed. Who the hell is Kim Jooh, the second Ahn Hyun-min
2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. General manager Kim Tae-ryong is wearing a uniform to Kim Joo-oh of Masan Yongmago, who was nominated in the first round by Doosan. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/
Kim Joo-oh would not have been selected if Doosan had chosen the top priority player regardless of the position except for the missing player. In other words, Doosan entered the draft field with the intention of unconditionally selecting Kim Joo-oh, which other teams were not very interested in in in the first round.




Of course, he could have bounced the abacus. Let's pick a pitcher in the first round and pray for him to stay until the second round. However, Doosan was confident that if they did not choose in the first round, the team ahead of them would take Kim Joo-oh in the second round, and if they were going to have that regret, they finally concluded that they would boldly pick Kim Joo-oh in the first round.

The reason for the nomination is clear. It was based on the judgment that he needed big guns and right-handed outfield resources rather than pitchers. Starting with veteran Jung Soo-bin, who went down to the second division, Kim Min-seok, Cave, Kim In-tae, Hong Sung-ho, Cho Soo-haeng, and rookie Chun Hyun-jae, who are currently registered in the first division, are all left-handed hitters. A player named Hong Sung-ho appeared to quench his thirst for home runs for a while, but Doosan does not have a big shot resource other than Kim Jae-hwan and Yang Eui-ji with hitting ability to cross the Jamsil fence. They are also now looking at their late 30s. It is necessary to replace the generation of center hitters.

Bursting body, 176km batting speed. Who the hell is Kim Jooh, the second Ahn Hyun-min
2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Masan Yongmago Kim Joo-oh, who was nominated in the first round by Doosan, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/
Kim Joo-oh was the top priority when looking for players based on this standard. Although it is a high school stage standard, Doosan's evaluation is that the impact on hitting is stronger than any other player. So long balls come out and the batting quality is good. In fact, Kim Joo-oh hit 360, six home runs and 31 RBIs in 32 games on the high school stage this year. He is the king of home runs and RBIs in Gyeongsang area in the first half of the weekend league. Just by looking at it, I feel full of energy. The feet are fast here, too. There are 12 stolen bases. There is no problem with running base play, and at the same time, it is less likely to make a big hole in the outfield defense. He played center field in high school, but in professional, he can go to the corner outfield, which is less burdensome. The defense is professionally trained in the profession, and the more you do it, the more you can grow.




Bursting body, 176km batting speed. Who the hell is Kim Jooh, the second Ahn Hyun-min
2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Masan Yongmago Kim Joo-oh, who was nominated in the first round by Doosan, is giving his feelings. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/
However, he is not that tall at 1m81 for a typical big gun. But I don't hit a home run just because I'm tall. Compared to other players, the upper body is incredibly thick. Therefore, the ball has no choice but to gain strength.

There is evidence to support this. Since 2022, when the batting measurement system was operated at Mokdong Stadium, where the high school baseball national championship is held, it has recorded the highest batting speed among high school players hit by sweet spots. It is said to have reached a whopping 176.3 kilometers.

That doesn't mean you're full of energy. Doosan's own evaluation is that its coping with breaking balls is not bad and its pioneering eye is excellent.

This reminds me of Ahn Hyun-min (KT), a senior from the same region. Ahn Hyun-min graduated from Masan Yongmago rival Masan High School and made his professional debut, and became a huge star this year, exploding his potential. Kim Joo-oh himself is using Ahn Hyun-min as a role model. Before that, he was Major League Baseball superstar Mike Trout (L.A. Angels). That's why my uniform number was 27. Interestingly, Ahn Hyun-min's favorite major league player is Trout.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.