The 1st and 3rd places have all changed

It has a distinctive feature of the upper round. It is a strong market for left-handed pitchers.

As the draft approaches, left-handed pitchers are raising their stock prices steeply, breaking their original expectations.

Both the first and third rankings in the first round, which drew the most attention, are expected to be filled with left-handed pitchers.

Until the first half of this season, the first and third-place picks of Jeon and right-hander Jung Woo-ju, Deoksu left-hander Jung Hyun-woo, Deoksu right-hander Kim Tae-hyung seemed to be in a regular arrangement.

However, left-handed pitchers' strides began after the summer blue dragon competition.

Chung Hyeon-woo, left-hander of Deoksu High School, has booked the first overall pick, beating right-hander Jung Woo-ju of Jeonju High School. The first choice of the Kiwoom Heroes in the first round is likely to be the first overall pick.

Initially, it seemed that Kiwoom would choose Jung Woo-joo. With his soft form, he is the best fireballer in high school who can easily throw around the mid-150km range. However, as the summer progressed, people began to hear that he switched to Chung Hyeon-woo, not Chung. "Since Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha), Kim Kwang-hyun (SSG) and Yang Hyeon-jong (KIA), there has been no left-hander who can overwhelm the rival team, and we are determining that Chung can become such a player," Kiwoom's general manager Ko Hyung-wook said.

Naturally, the second-ranked Hanwha Eagles will likely choose Jung Woo-joo. For Hanwha, it will build a strong right-handed fireball Troika that will lead to Moon Dong-joo, Kim Seo-hyun and Jung Woo-joo.

The choice of the third overall Samsung Lions was of keen interest.

Initially, Kim Tae-hyung was ahead, but Gwangju Il High School left-hander Kim Tae-hyun emerged rapidly after the Blue Dragon Open.

He has a maximum speed of 147 kilometers, but his fastball pitching capability is strong due to his ideal mechanism, vertical movement from a high RBI and strong rotation speed. His good deception (hiding motion) makes him feel faster from the batter's point of view. He is a pitcher with outstanding strikeout ability combined with a highly valuable splitter. His ball control is also stable, and he is a promising player who can foster starting pitchers by immediately putting in the bullpen when he joins the pro league.

Meanwhile, Bong Hwang-gi and Daegu High School left-hander Bae Chan-seung, who recovered his old ball power at the 13th Asian Youth Baseball Championship, which ended in Taiwan on the 9th, are causing a change in perception with their strong presence.

Bae, who had been drawing attention as the best left-hander in high school along with Chung since his sophomore year, showed sluggish performance as his balance slightly faltered in his early third year. His turn was also slightly pushed back.

Recently, however, he has regained his fastball position in the 150-kilometer range, drawing attention as a top ranker. Notably, he elevated his stock price by making fastballs with speeds exceeding 150 kilometers and sliders with large drops at the Taiwan championships. Another factor is that he is gaining support from Samsung fans due to his merit as a left-handed pitcher in the area where he throws 150-kilometer fastball.

Whether Samsung chooses Kim Tae-hyun or Bae Chan-seung, the fourth-ranked Lotte Giants have an opportunity to choose between the two top left-handed specialties. Right-handed Kim Tae-hyung also has a good choice.

The fifth-ranked KIA Tigers will secure a special right-hander option called Kim Tae-hyung if he passes until the fourth amid a strong left-hander market. However, Kia is a club that can be an inflection point for the first-round draft along with Samsung.

This is because there is a surprising choice called Bibongo left-hander Park Jung-hoon. He is a left-hander who "brings him from hell" who is well over 150km with his superior physical condition of 1m92 and 100kg. The slider that keeps flowing outside the left-handed batter on a 153km fast ball and the change-up that falls sharply allows both left and right hitters to face each other. Wild pitching form can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, but it is an attractive card that cannot be overlooked in terms of growth potential as a left-hander with a large ball of over 150km.

The pitcher who is drawing attention in the lower part of the first round is left-hander Kwon Min-gyu.

A pitcher who has sophisticated ball control in a soft pitching form with solid basic skills. He can spray up to 146-7 kilometers from a tall RBI of 1m89 and has a slider with high pitch value. The stable pitching balance, with only two walks in 44 innings, reminds me of Yoo Hee-kwan who is "ball-fast." Although it is regrettable that he is in the early 140km range when he starts, he is a player who has strong basic skills and will be able to use it immediately in the first team if he builds up his body well after joining the professional league and raises his speed.

Although he is not a first-round pick, Daegu Sangwon High School's Lee Dong-young is also a left-handed pitcher who deserves attention. Although he is in the early 140km range, he is a pitcher who can play with a fastball with a good tip and a big breaking ball, drawing keen attention from the second round or lower.

The strength of left-handers in the first round is closely related to the current professional baseball game.

All 10 clubs, which had an unprecedented and fierce ranking battle this season, are shouting "Win Now."

Teams that had remained at the bottom for several years, including Hanwha, Lotte, and Samsung, have jumped to the top starting from this season. Even Kiwoom, which has attracted a large number of promising players, is dreaming of making a big leap forward from the 2026 season starting from next year. 메이저사이트

The No. 1 pick in the rookie draft is likely to help the team's current strength right now. Rather than fielders who need time to become the mainstay, multi-faceted pitchers and left-handed pitchers who can use at least one-point relief could help the team's strength right away.

Another factor driving the pitching market, especially the left-hander-led market, is that there are no strong fielders that will shake the top game like Kim Do-young.