Kim Min-woo, ‘right-hander Ryu Hyun-jin,’ gives Hanwha promise

Good luck made it possible for the Hanwha Eagles to recruit Ryu Hyun-jin (28, LA Dodgers) in 2006. As the SK Wyverns, which had the primary right to choose a player, and the Lotte Giants, which was the primary team eligible for secondary draft, picked Lee Jae-won and Na Seung-hyeon, respectively, Hanwha was able to pick Ryu, a left-handed pitcher. Ryu, who garnered 98 wins as a Hanwha pitcher, moved to the Major League Baseball after granting 25.73 million U.S. dollars in transfer fee to his former team.

In 2015, Hanwha is anticipating luck once again. The case in point is right-handed pitcher Kim Min-woo, 20. Kim is similar to Ryu in many ways. For one, he energetically pitches the ball to live up to his big physique. Just like Ryu, Kim also received elbow surgery while attending at Yongma High School.

Had he not received elbow surgery, chances are high that Kim would have joined another team. As Kim flunked for one year due to injury, however, he was excluded from the list of players for primary nomination, and was included in the list for secondary nomination. With the primary right to pick a player in the second round, Hanwha had no reluctance in choosing Kim. From the time when he was picked, Kim has had the nickname "Right-handed Ryu Hyun-jin."

A remaining hurdle for now is his harmony with the team. Ryu was able to grow to a "giant pitcher" mainly due to influence of former team manager Kim In-shik, who spared no effort to support him. Another reason Ryu had many opportunities was the dearth of pitchers at Hanwha at the time.

Kim Min-woo is also blessed with many good conditions. For one, he is being guided by Manager Kim Seong-geun, dubbed "Baseball God" who is highly skilled in training pitchers. Also, although Hanwha reinforced its pitcher lineup, it still remains relatively weak in pitching capacity. Moreover, as the number of games each team plays will increase from 128 to 144 beginning this year, teams require more pitchers.

Kim Min-woo is said to be throwing best pitches within his team these days, when spring training camps are well underway. In a practice game against the Kia Tigers on Sunday, Kim took the mound at the eighth inning, and displayed good pitching with one hit and two strikeouts in two innings. In the seven practice games including the team’s internal matches during its spring camp, Kim pitched a total of 16 innings and only allowed six runs (5 earned runs). His ERA is just 2.81. While garnering 13 strikeouts, he only allowed four walks.

Manager Kim Seong-geun said, “I will deploy him in diverse ways including starter, relief and closing pitcher at training games and exhibition games. I have a plan to nurture him well.” Since producing Ryu Hyun-jin as the rookie player of the year in 2006, Hanwha has yet to generate a player who has received the honor. In the Korean pro-baseball, Yim Tae-hoon (Doosan Bears) was the last to win the rookie player of the year award in the first year in 2007 when he clinched the honor after debut as a high school graduate. It remains to be seen whether Kim Min-woo will grow to a pitcher living up to his nickname this season.