The reason why he was chosen as the No. 1 overall pick by the Kiwoom Heroes has been clearly seen from the beginning of the season. Jung Hyun-woo (19) has grown every game and is becoming Kiwoom's hope stick.메이저놀이터

Chung Hyun-woo started the visiting game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 12th and recorded 84 pitches, seven hits, one walk, three strikeouts and two runs in five innings.

The lineup supported the score from the beginning of the game and withdrew after two runs in the fifth inning, but the bullpen kept the lead and secured its second career victory.

Chung, who was considered a "completed pitcher," received Kiwoom's nomination as the No. 1 overall pick in last year's rookie draft amid high expectations. Kiwoom paid a down payment of 500 million won, the third largest in the team's history.

Manager Hong Won-ki, who has a strong player consisting of one foreign pitcher to strengthen the batting lineup, selected Chung Hyun-woo as the fourth starter early on and took the mound three times from the exhibition game, raising expectations with an ERA of 0.82.

In his debut on the 26th of last month, he threw 122 pitches in five innings, allowing eight hits, seven walks, four strikeouts, and six runs (four earned runs), marking his 12th start in KBO history as a high school graduate. He also raised concerns by pitching the second-largest number of pitches in his rookie debut, but skipped one turn due to the cancellation of the game and took the mound for the second time on the 6th.

After a 10-day break, Chung threw 101 pitches during five innings, allowing four hits (one homer) and five walks, and displayed more stable pitching. He failed to win, but after Chung went down, the bullpen pitchers allowed six runs, which made Kiwoom realize its power. In addition to the overall performance, he reduced the number of pitches he pitched along with walks.

After a five-day rest, Chung played in the match against the Hanwha Eagles, and showed better performance than before. He aggressively targeted the strike zone. Even though he had a double by Esteban Floral, he blocked Chae with a miscarriage afterwards, and in the second inning, pitches thrown to Chae Eun-sung and Kim Tae-yeon flocked to receive consecutive hits, but he ended the crisis by swinging Lee Jin-young, stealing Chae Eun-sung, and even turning Lee Jae-won into a fly ball to the left field.

By blocking the third inning with three outs, Jung Hyun-woo also had two hits in the fourth inning, but he continued his scoreless pitch by catching Lee Jin-young with a fork ball with two outs and runners on the first and second bases.

The pitch in the fifth inning was disappointing. After walking Lee Jae-won, he struck out pinch hitter Ha Joo-seok, but another pinch hitter Choi In-ho hit a low ball outside and faced a crisis of losing the first and third bases. He induced Floral to ground out to the second base, exchanged one out count and one point, and gave up one more point after a timely hit by Moon Hyun-bin, but he turned Noh Si-hwan into a fly ball to center field and stepped down from the mound with a winning requirement.

Active pitching stood out. He played five innings in all three games, but gradually decreased the number of pitches to 122, 101 and 84 pitches. He posted seven or five walks, but pitched aggressively to reduce the number to just one on the day. He had seven hits, but he managed to overcome the crisis by himself without losing his rhythm.

He has gained two wins in three games and an ERA of 4.80, improving every game. What is most encouraging is that even though he is a rookie, he has shown performance as a stopper of consecutive losses. Having ended four consecutive losses since his debut, Chung displayed good pitching that enabled him to snap two consecutive losses on the day as well. He gave precious one win to Kiwoom, which had been struggling with one win and five losses in the recent six games, to lead the team to escape from the bottom spot. With seven wins and 11 losses, he jumped to a joint seventh with Hanwha and Doosan.