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South Korea starter Moon Dong-ju pitches against the San Diego Padres during an exhibition game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Sunday. (Yonhap) |
Billed as the next big thing in South Korean baseball, right-hander Moon Dong-ju showcased some electric stuff in an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres in Seoul on Sunday.
The problem was Moon didn't always know where his blazing fastballs were going.
Moon, starter for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), got the starting nod for the national team against the Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. It was the first of two exhibitions scheduled for the Padres before they play the Los Angeles Dodgers in a two-game Seoul Series on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Dodgers will play "Team Korea" on Monday.
Moon won the 2023 KBO Rookie of the Year award behind his signature fastball. Last April, Moon threw a fastball clocked at 160.1 kilometers per hour, or 99.5 miles per hour (mph), the hardest pitch thrown by a South Korean hurler in KBO history.
The 20-year-old pitcher, perhaps trying too hard to impress Major League Baseball players and scouts on hand, sat around the mid-90s mph with his fastball in the first inning Sunday. Moon hadn't been throwing that hard for the Eagles during spring training, while building up in time for the start of the regular season Saturday.
Moon walked the first three batters he faced and issued four free passes in total in that inning, in addition to a wild pitch that struck home plate umpire Jansen Visconti in the mask.
That pitch, thrown with Jurickson Profar at the plate, was clocked at 96.2 mph.
Later in the same at-bat, Moon threw a 96.4 mph fastball that missed the zone. He made 31 pitches in the first inning but only 10 went for strikes.
Moon was lucky to escape the inning after allowing only a run on that wild pitch.
He started taking rein in his fastball in the second inning, and it worked to great effect.
Moon retired the side in order on just seven pitches, getting a flyout and a couple of infield pop outs. His fastball in that inning topped out at 93.6 mph.
Moon did not give up a hit in his two innings of work, and was charged with a run on four walks.
