MLB's interest, Han Ki-joo was summoned for no reason? Will the first year of the transformation begin with a slightly revealed genius
MLB's interest, Han Ki-joo was summoned for no reason? Will the first year of the transformation begin with a slightly revealed genius
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The record of the highest down payment for a rookie in the history of the KBO league is unbreakable for 20 years. The best record was that Han Ki-joo, who received the first nomination by Kia in 2006, received 1 billion won in 2005. Since then, numerous stars have been born in the rookie draft, but no one has reached Han Ki-joo's record.
There is only one player who got close to Han Ki-joo. Jang Jae-young (23), who graduated from Deoksu High School and received the first nomination by Kiwoom in 2021, is the main character. Jang was in the spotlight for receiving a down payment of 900 million won. With the market price set at around 500 million won, Jang was actually the only player who summoned Han Ki-joo's name.안전놀이터
He has been recognized as a highly talented player since Deoksu's days. Both pitchers and batters were praised for his ability to succeed. Some said that he is the only talent of Korea that can throw and hit like Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) if he raises them well. He was also the only player who sparked controversy among KBO scouts, such as "Better is better" and "Better is better." It was a possible debate because both were talented.
On top of that, the interest of Major League clubs was of course hot, and it was natural that a large down payment was needed to leave Jang Jae-young in the rookie draft. In the end, Kiwoom bet "900 million won," which was hard for anyone to imagine, to end Jang Jae-young's dream of entering the Major League and put on a uniform. It was natural to expect that it would take some time as it was such a big vessel, but there was no doubt that he was an outstanding talent who could dominate the KBO League.
However, Jang Jae-young's early professional career was bumpy. His strong shoulders, which were able to throw balls over 150 kilometers per hour, were attractive, but there were complementary points in his control and game management ability. He had a 9.17 ERA in 19 games in the first team in 2021, and a 7.71 ERA in 14 games in the first team in 2022. Although he got better in 2023, his 5.53 ERA in 23 games was not satisfactory. He pitched 103 ⅓ innings in the first team and allowed 109 pitches.
Crucially, he was told that he needed surgery due to damage to ligament in his elbow early in the 2024 season. After undergoing surgery and resolving military issues, he is at the crossroads of whether he will promise to take two to three years from now. At that time, Jang recalled the bat he had lingering about. After discussing with his club, he decided to switch to a batter and although he started the 2024 season as a pitcher, he decided to finish the season as a batter.
Jang Jae-young was so good at batting that he was recognized for his ability to combine pitching and batting. Perhaps the area that stood out more numerically in high school was batting. He pitched first because the value of a large pitcher was higher, but during spring camp, he once held a bat to refresh himself and fight with the pitcher. Jang Jae-young, who turned into a batter in this way, is said to have indicated a possibility apart from his 2024 performance.
Jang played 139 at-bats in 38 games as a batter in 2024, posting a batting average of 0.168 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 0.582 on the OPS. In general, Jang cannot guarantee a spot in the first team. However, he turned into a batter in the middle of the season, and if he builds up his reputation as a batter step by step, he has shown sufficient strength to produce better results.
Even though he did not have much sense as a batter in 2024, he showed a bullet ball with a batting speed of more than 170 kilometers per hour, giving an image of "it's big if you hit it." Unlike the low batting average, he hit four home runs. Compared to other fielders who have been consistently batting, some say that it is worth watching at least 500 at-bats even if they have just started batting.
It is clear that he is a batter who still has a lot of issues to make up for, such as too many strikeouts and a drop in the proportion of contacts. That is why he needs to gradually gain experience as a batter starting from this year's spring camp. He was not included in the list of Arizona camp, but was not included in the list of U.S. camp last year. While it is true that Jang Jae-young's position has shrunk as the team recruited two foreign hitters, Yasiel Puig and Ruben Kadines, the "two foreign hitters" system is likely to be temporary. Only when Jang takes 2025 as the first year of his transformation, will Kiwoom's plan to take a leap forward be prepared step by step.