Moon Dong-ju, the top prospect of the Hanwha Eagles, failed to respond to the expectations of the head coach.
Moon Dong-ju started an away game against the LG Twins in the 2023 professional baseball KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 19th and pitched 86 balls in 4 innings, giving up 4 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts and 3 runs.
Moon Dong-ju, who made his professional debut last year, is a right-handed pitcher who is attracting a lot of attention with his fastball that can reach 160 km. In his debut season, he showed potential with 1 win, 3 losses and 2 holds average ERA of 5.65 in 13 games, and this year he entered the starting rotation and is active. Prior to this LG match, his performance was 2 wins, 3 losses and an average ERA of 4.20 in 6 appearances.
However, he was sluggish in his recent appearance against Incheon SSG Landers (5-8 Hanwha loss) on the 13th. He threw 73 balls, but only allowed 7 hits, 5 walks and 7 runs in 2.1 innings. He was largely attributable to his fluctuating pitches to the extent that he gave up 5 pitches.
Accordingly, ahead of the match, Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho emphasized a ‘head-to-head match’ to Moon Dong-ju, saying, “Don’t do a corner walk, choose a fastball or a breaking ball and throw it into the center (strike zone).”
However, Moon Dong-ju did not live up to the command tower’s wishes by dedicating four sand dunes on this day as well. Coming off the mound with the team trailing 1-2, he will suffer the 4th loss of the season if Hanwha fails to tie the game and loses.
The start was good. At the end of the first inning, Hong Chang-ki (strikeout), Moon Seong-joo (shortstop grounder), and Kim Hyeon-soo (second baseman grounder) were put to rest one after another, and the game started happily with a three-way retreat. In the bottom of the second inning, after treating Austin Dean and Oh Ji-hwan with second baseman grounders and strikeouts, respectively, he walked to Moon Bo-gyeong, but ended the inning by inducing Park Dong-won to third baseman grounders.
But the 3rd inning was disappointing. It was the source of the trouble that Kim Min-seong and Park Hae-min hit consecutive hits. He then led Hong Chang-ki to a first baseman grounder and struck out Moon Seong-joo, but Kim Hyun-soo walked and was driven to the second baseman. In the end, Moon Dong-ju allowed Austin to hit a double at the right 먹튀검증 time with two RBIs that passed the height of the left fielder. Afterwards, he dedicated a walk to Oh Ji-hwan and seemed to be in danger again, but he did not give up any additional runs by catching Moon Bo-kyung with a grounder from second baseman.
The 4th inning was neat. Park Dong-won and Kim Min-seong were treated with a ground ball to third base and a fly to right field, respectively. For Park Hae-min, he struck out after a 7-pitch game.
However, in the bottom of the 5th inning, Moon Dong-ju was shaken again. Hong Chang-ki got an infield hit to the second baseman, and Moon Seong-joo walked. The number of his pitches reached 86 before he knew it. In the end, the Hanwha bench brought left-hander Jung Woo-ram to the mound without regret. Jung Woo-ram gave up a home to Hong Chang-gi, the runner in charge of Moon Dong-ju, and Moon Dong-ju’s own score totaled 3 points.
