Jung Woo-joo (18, junior at Jeonju High School), who is listed as the No. 1 overall candidate in this year’s KBO rookie draft, announced his intention to overcome the home team’s territoriality and rise to the top.
Jung Woo-joo met with Star News at Gijang-Hyundai Motor Dream Ball Park in Busan on the 30th, where the U-18 national baseball team trained, and said, “Even if the judgment is unfavorable to us, we will win and bring a medal.”스포츠토토
Led by Busan High School coach Park Gye-won, the U-18 national team will participate in the 13th Asian Youth Baseball Championship (under 18) in Taipei, Taiwan from Sept. 2-8. The first competition in six years will mark Korea’s sixth career victory.
Chung Woo-joo and Chung Hyeon-woo (18, senior at Deoksu High School) are drawing the most attention in the upcoming national team. The two players are listed as the No. 1 overall pick that the Kiwoom Heroes will exercise in the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft, which will take place on March 11. “Last year, we had one player named Jang Hyun-suk. However, this year, we cannot confidently say either Chung or Chung,” a scout for a KBO club said.
Coach Park also said, “We will operate mainly on two outstanding pitchers, Jung Hyun-woo and Jung Woo-joo.” Jung Woo-joo has been overwhelming batters by throwing fast balls up to 156 kilometers per hour in official games, and he wants to face strong teams such as Taiwan and Japan with this pitch.
“I’m grateful to be called a one-two punch like (Jung) Hyun-woo,” said Jung Woo-joo, who finished his last training session before leaving the country on Sunday. “I’ll throw the ball with the mindset that I’ll repay you because I believe in using Hyun-woo and myself,” he said.
Jung Woo-joo, who looked back on the training, said, “It didn’t go as planned,” but added, “The results were good at the end, and I’m satisfied that my team members are leaving for Taiwan like this without getting hurt.”
Jung Woo-joo himself completed his final inspection. He took the mound as a starting pitcher in the game against the Lotte Giants’ second division at Gijang-Hyundai Motor Dream Ball Park on the 29th, and recorded one hit, one strikeout and two strikeouts in two innings. Lee Sun-woo’s double and So Han-bin’s hit ball in the first inning faced a crisis, but it went well, and he made three outs in the second inning.
Jung Woo-joo said, “I was a little worried because I joined the national competition without playing a game,” and added, “I think it was good because I threw it with a comfortable mind because my team members were blocking me well from the back, and I think it was good because they were reliable.” “I was nervous in the game with the All-Star of the Independent League, but I threw it comfortably because it was balanced in the last game with Lotte,” he explained.
There were other achievements in the training as well. “I wanted to improve the completeness of the breaking balls,” Jung said. “I’m satisfied because I got caught by throwing some breaking balls in this match.”
Korea’s first game against Taiwan (July 2 at 7:30 p.m.) will be a watershed moment in the upcoming event. “Taiwan has no choice but to consider home advantage. As many promising players have advanced to the U.S., their skills have improved. Technology has also advanced in baseball of strength, and in particular, their pitching capability is considerable,” Park said. “We also have to pay attention to ‘tuttle’.” “Even if a pitcher throws well, it is of no use if the umpire does not catch him,” a source in the Korean national team said.
Still, Jung Woo-joo said, “I was told that we would be strict,” but added, “I think the answer is still a head-to-head match.” “Even if the judgment is against us, we will win and bring a medal without worrying about that,” he said.