
Moon Dong-ju, the “Prince of Daejeon” of the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), tasted the joy of victory.
Moon started the game against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, on April 8 and pitched five innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts for his sixth win of the season. He touched 95 mph on the speed gun and utilized his arsenal of curveball, slider, changeup, and forkball.
Hanwha defeated Samsung 6-4 to complete a three-game midweek series with two wins and one loss. Starting in the No. 5 spot, captain Chae Eun-sung went 4-for-4 with a home run in back-to-back at-bats, four RBIs and two runs scored to help Moon Dong-ju win the game. Following Moon, Kim Seo-hyun, Kim Bum-soo, Han Seung-hyuk, and Joo Hyun-sang pitched one inning each to preserve the win.
“I was lucky,” Moon said after the game. I had a difficult start, giving up a lot of runs in the first inning. Moon was in danger of giving up a lot of runs, but I think I got through it,” said Moon. “Whenever I pitch, I feel good when the team wins, regardless of whether I get more individual wins or not. (Choi) Jae-hoon and (Chae) Eun-sung helped me a lot, so I was able to smile as a team and as an individual,” he added.
He faced off against “blue-blooded ace” Won Tae-in (Samsung), who he played with on the Hangzhou Asian Games team.
“On both Monday and Tuesday, Tae-in ate with my brother. Tae-in was pitched against his brother because of a rain delay. Usually, Tae-in jokes with his brother and plays a lot of pranks with him.” Moon added, “Tae-in is much better than me in all aspects, including his ability to run the game. I learned a lot from him,” he said.
After a career-high season last year, Moon went 3-6 with a 6.92 ERA in 13 games in the first half of the season. After being removed from the first-team roster, he had to readjust his pitching, which caused him to take some pride. In the second half of the year, 사설 토토사이트 he is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in four starts.
“I’ve gotten better in the second half, but I’m still not good enough and there’s a lot more I can do. There were a lot of things I was disappointed with in today’s game, but I will pay attention to what I need to improve and prepare well for my next start.”
Pitching coach Yang Sang-moon deserves a lot of credit for Moon’s second-half rebound. Considered one of the best pitching theory experts in the Korean Professional Baseball Organization, Yang Sang-moon has been giving Moon advice and helping the ace revive his career.
“Coach Yang emphasizes confidence the most,” says Moon.
He told me to be aggressive (with confidence) because I throw fastballs in the mid-to-low 150 kilometers. Thanks to that, my first-pitch strike rate increased. I think being aggressive and facing the batsmen has given me good results,” he said.
He hasn’t let go of his hopes of making it to the quarterfinals. “It’s unfortunate because if I had played well at the beginning of the season, our team would have been in a higher position. But (the race for the top five) is not over yet,” he emphasized.
“I’m not giving up hope just because I didn’t do well in the beginning, and there’s still a lot of season left, so I want to create as many situations where the team can fight as much as possible rather than individual victories,” he added.