There is no overwhelming lead. Leading candidates come out evenly. Who will have the advantage in the Rookie of the Year race.메이저사이트
Last year’s KBO League Rookie of the Year was Moon Dong-ju. There was a competition with Yoon Young-chul, but Moon won the Rookie of the Year title with overwhelming support.
The competition for the Rookie of the Year award in this season is also interesting. Not a specific player’s solo performance, but “new faces” are playing evenly.
Among hitters, Kim Bum-suk of the LG Twins has the strongest impact. Although Kim is not an “pure rookie,” he only made 29 at-bats in the first division last year, qualifying for the Rookie of the Year award. Although Kim has slowed down a bit with a batting average of .229 (eight hits in 35 times at bat) in the last 10 games, he has recorded the best performance among new hitters with a batting average of .307 with five homers and 19 RBIs in this season.
Kim Bum-suk’s biggest advantage is his power. Although his defensive position is still somewhat ambiguous, he was born with a batting talent that he had to use. In the match against KT Wiz on the 18th, he hit his first two home runs in his debut game.
Except for Kim Bum-suk, most of the rookie pitchers are at the forefront of the race. Recently, Doosan Bears’ Kim Taek-yeon has risen to the top spot. Kim Taek-yeon, who has been in the spotlight since joining the team as the second-ranked high school graduate, went down to the second division due to ups and downs in the early days of the opening, but the more stable he takes the mound after his return.
In recent tight conditions, he has taken the mound as a member of the must-win group, expanding his position in the team. Kim Taek-yeon, who saved his team from losing the game against SSG Landers in Jamsil on the 21st, secured a relief victory by perfectly blocking the first ⅔ inning against SSG the next day. As he has been reborn as the most reliable pitcher in Doosan’s bullpen, he has also gained an advantage in the rookie of the year race.
Jeon Mir, a rookie pitcher who has pitched in the most games, is definitely Jeon Mir of the Lotte Giants. Having emerged as Lotte’s core bullpen, Jeon had played 27 games and 26 innings until Tuesday. In a match against the Kia Tigers in Busan on Sunday, he garnered his first save since his debut by allowing no run in one ⅓.
Among the starting pitchers, Kiwoom Heroes’ Kim In-beom emerged rapidly. Kim In-beom is also a middle-aged rookie. He was nominated by the Heroes in the second round of the fourth round in 2019, and was converted into an official player in 2021. He only played five ⅓ in three games before this season, meeting the requirements for the rookie award.
Kim In-beom, who played in six games as an alternative starter, won his second consecutive start in the last two games, scoring five scoreless innings and two runs in five innings, respectively.
Choi Jun-ho of the Doosan Bears is also a starting resource. Choi Jun-ho, who joined the team in his second year, took the opportunity by taking advantage of a hole in Doosan’s starting rotation. He has started quality games in the last two consecutive games and even won his first debut game against KT on the 12th.
Hanwha Eagles Hwang Joon-seo, the No. 1 overall pick among this year’s rookies, has recently lost four consecutive individual games, but there is room for a rebound, and Cho Byung-hyun, who rose to the SSG Landers must-win group, is also one of the candidates.
Of course, the season is still a long one. It is safe to say that there have been few cases in which the season was the same as the beginning and end of the season. Among the candidates who survive until the end, the player who maintains the best performance until the end has no choice but to gather more votes.
Since Kang Baek-ho in 2018, a pitcher has been honored as the KBO’s best rookie for the past five consecutive years. Will a pitcher be crowned as the Rookie of the Year again this year? Pure rookies are relatively more advantageous to win votes than second-hand rookies.