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| 2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Bukil High School's Park Joon-hyun, who was nominated in the first round by Kiwoom, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/ |
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"I didn't think it would come to us...."
KBO hosted the rookie draft at Lotte Hotel World Crystal Ballroom in Seoul on the 17th.
The first place was clear. Since then, however, it has been a series of chaos.
Park Seok-min, the son of former Doosan Bears coach Park Joon-hyun, was listed as the No. 1 overall pick early on. As a pitcher throwing a fastball of up to 157 kilometers, he has been agonizing over his challenge to the U.S. stage and the KBO League nomination. Park Joon-hyun's choice was the KBO League, although he was offered a total of $2 million (about 2.7 billion won) by major league clubs.
As Park Joon-hyun chose to stay in Korea, Kiwoom, which has the first overall nomination right, was able to easily decide. Park Joon-hyun was unanimously chosen early on.
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| 2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Yoo Shin-go Shin Jae-in, who was nominated in the first round by NC, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/ |
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| 2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Yoo Shin-go Oh Jae-won, who was nominated by Hanwha in the first round, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/ |
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From the nomination of the NC Dinos, who has the second-ranked nomination overall, it has been a series of "unexpected changes". Yang Woo-jin (Gyeonggi Air High School) and Kim Min-joon (Daegu High School) were selected as Big 3 along with Park Joon-hyun. NC's choice is Yoo Shin-jae, a new infielder. Shin Jae-in, who was evaluated to have high growth potential as a big guns, was evaluated to be able to grow like Yoo Shin-go senior Choi Jeong (SSG). This year, he appeared in 26 games and showed his batting average of 337, four home runs, 30 RBIs, and 13 steals (OPS) with 1.050.
The Hanwha Eagles also made 'Shocking Nomination'. Yoo Shin-go outfielder Oh Jae-won was called. Ryu Shin-go outfielder Oh Jae-won posted a batting average of 442, one homer, 32 steals, and an OPS of 1.199 in 26 games this year.
Lotte Giants' fourth choice is Dongsan High School pitcher Shin Dong-gun. The fifth-ranked SSG Landers called Daegu High School pitcher Kim Min-joon.
While KT Wiz named Park Ji-hoon, a high school player, Doosan made the field shake once again. He called out the name of outfielder Kim Joo-oh of Masan Yongmago. Kim Joo-oh is a hot spot outfielder with a batting average of 385, six homers, 12 steals, and an OPS of 1.141 this year.
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| 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/ |
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| 2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Yang Woo-jin of Gyeonggi Air High School, who was nominated by LG in the first round, is taking a commemorative photo. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/ |
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Yang Woo-jin, who threw up to 153km and was likely to be nominated within the third place, will wear the LG Twins uniform in the eighth place. The order was pushed back in the aftermath of the fracture due to fine elbow fatigue. However, as much potential as he has, LG General Manager Cha Myung-seok said, `I think I'm lucky. I didn't expect this player to come all the way to us," he said with a smile.
Samsung, ranked 9th, nominated Seoul High School pitcher Lee Ho-beom, and Kiwoom, which received the first nomination right from KIA last year through Cho Sang-woo's trade, called former high school infielder Park Han-kyul.
Meanwhile, Shin Woo-yeol, a Tampa Bay Rays native who left for the U.S. unknowingly after graduating from Baejae, received a fourth-round pick by Doosan. In addition, Cho Jae-woo from the University of Central Florida in the U.S., who threw a ball mid-150km on the U.S. stage, will wear an SSG uniform as the fifth choice.
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| 2026 KBO rookie draft was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the 17th. Coach Park Seok-min is shedding tears while Bukil High School Park Joon-hyun, who was nominated by Kiwoom in the first round, is speaking his feelings. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.17/ |
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Park Joon-hyun, who was nominated as the first overall pick, said "Since the beginning of baseball, the goal has been to be the first overall pick. Thank you to Kiwoom officials for achieving that goal. And I'd like to thank my parents for always taking care of me and giving me a lot of support," he said, calling out the names of the leaders who made today. He also said something to his friends. Park Jun-hyun said, `Lastly, I hope the friends who worked out together for three years will be nominated as professionals. Even if it's not possible, I hope we can play baseball together for 2 or 3 years" he said.
Former Doosan coach Park Seok-min, Park Joon-hyun's father, was also present at the meeting. Coach Park shed tears at the news of his son's nomination. Park Joon-hyun said, `I didn't see my father crying well.' Coach Park promised not to cry, but when I stood, I cried. There are good things about Jun-hyun living as a second-generation baseball player, but there must have been a lot of difficulties. I'm grateful and proud as a parent for growing up well,' he said. "(Park) Jun-hyun has something to say, but the professional is not easy. He said, "I hope I can work harder and become a good player for Kiwoom even though he's well coached and told me to be humble.'
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
