Korean baseball’s next right-handed slugger and “Busan Man” Noh Si-hwan (23-Hanwha Eagles) expressed his pride in his alma mater, Gyeongnam High School.
At a fan signing event ahead of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO All-Star Game at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Dongnae-gu, Busan, on the 15th, Noh praised Kim Bum-seok, saying, “First of all, I’m really proud of him because he’s a junior in my high school,” and added, “He’s good at baseball because he went to a good school called Gyeongnam High.”온라인카지노
Kim Bum-seok, 19, is a Busan man who graduated from Gyeongnam High School and was selected with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft. He won MVP honours at the Futures All-Star Game in his hometown of Busan the previous day (14), going 2-for-4 with a double (one home run) and four RBIs. In addition to giving the Northern Futures All-Stars their first win in 12 years, he became the second LG player to win the Futures All-Star MVP after Kim Nam-seok.
The highlight of the game was a wedge three-run shot off Han Jae-seung (NC) with runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Northern All-Stars leading 4-3. A large arch with a bat speed of 170 kilometres per hour and a distance of 128.3 metres, it was instantly recognisable as a home run.
“I was very surprised that he hit the home run yesterday with so much power,” said Noh Si-hwan, “and I’m looking forward to seeing if Korea can have another right-handed slugger.”
Noh Si-hwan is paving the way for Kim Bum-seok. A graduate of Busan Suyeongcho, Gyeongnam Middle and Gyeongnam High School, Noh was selected by Hanwha with the third overall pick in the second round of the 2019 Korean Professional Baseball Draft. After making his debut in 2019, the fifth-year pro is leading the MVP race with a .317 batting average, 19 home runs, 57 RBIs, a .398 on-base percentage and a .560 slugging percentage in 78 games this season.
Noh Si-hwan, Han Dong-hee (24-Lotte Giants) and Kim Bum-seok are just a few of the right-handed hitters who have been making waves in recent years. With right-handed hitters becoming increasingly rare, many fans hope that they will follow in the footsteps of Lee Dae-ho (40), who played for Gyeongnam High School and became Korea’s representative right-handed hitter.
“I have (Han) Dong-hee and (Kim) Bum-seok. It would be great to continue the right-handed batting lineage together,” he laughed, adding, “I hope there will be more players from Gyeongnam High.”