Eni Romero (32, SSG Landers), who watched the bullpen pitching of his new colleagues, mentioned two impressive players. The first person I admired was Kim Gwang-hyeon (35), and I was surprised once more in an unexpected place.
At the SSG 1st team spring camp held on the 11th (Korean time) in Vero Beach, Florida, USA, Romero said, “The first player I noticed was Kim Kwang-hyun. There are strengths, but I want to contribute to the team’s victory by learning the strengths of Kim Gwang-hyun, who is considered the best pitcher in the KBO League.”
The answer did not stop there. Romero praised메이저놀이터, “The second is Lee Ro-un (19). I heard that he is a player who has just turned 20 (in Korean age), but I was surprised by his good command.”
Rowoon Lee is a rookie who was nominated by SSG with the 5th overall pick in the 1st round in the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft. As a right-handed orthodox pitcher who throws a fast ball at a maximum speed of 151 km per hour with his fastball, he is evaluated as having stable control and game management ability that allows him to compete with both left and right-handed batters.
In a recent bullpen pitching, a total of 41 pitches were thrown, including 24 fastballs, 8 sliders, 6 changeups, and 3 curveballs, and the average speed of fastballs reached 142.3 km per hour and reached a maximum of 146.9 km. Although his speed is not fast, Roun Lee’s control was attractive to Romero, who is from the big leagues and has played in 137 major league games.
Actually, it wasn’t just Romeo that I had my eyes on. All SSG officials who watched Lee Rowoon’s pitching praised him in unison. Oh Won-seok said, “I only saw him throw once or twice, but it felt like the ball kicked in. I think I’ll do well in the future.” Catcher Kim Min-sik, who received the ball directly from Lee Row-un, commented favorably, saying, “The fastball comes in easily, so batters don’t seem to be able to hit it well.”
SSG coach Kim Won-hyeong also said, “We have to open the lid more. Up until now, we are showing a good performance as a first-round player. We are confident in the ball we throw. There is still a feeling that it is monotonous, but we can overcome that with our pitch.” Explained.
At the same time, he cited the childhood of SSG 2nd Team pitching coach Chae Byeong-yong (41), a junior with a similar build, as an example. Coach Chae Byeong-yong, who won 84 wins in 451 games, was the main player who led the SK dynasty along with coach Kim during his active career. Director Kim said, “I also saw (Chae) Byeong-yong when I was young. Byeong-yong was also good in terms of pitch, but in terms of restraint itself, (Lee) Roun-yi was superior to Byeong-yong,” highly evaluating his potential.