KIA Tigers rookie Yoon Young-cheol (18) has been under the management of the team since joining.

Yoon Young-chul, who was nominated by KIA as the second overall pick in the first round in the 2023 rookie draft last September, was not listed on the list of finishing training in Seogwipo, Jeju-do, which included seven motives for joining. Considering that Yoon Young-cheol pitched a lot during his three years of high school baseball, including 65⅓ innings this year, the KIA ordered him not to catch the ball during the winter.

As such, he is an important resource for KIA. Yoon Young-cheol caught the attention of professional scouts with his skillful game management and excellent mental management ability, although his fastball’s maximum velocity was not as fast as 145 km/h. He appeared in 15 games this year and pitched well with 13 wins, 2 losses, 65⅓ innings, 99 strikeouts, 5 walks, and an earned run average of 1.66.

As managed by the club, Yoon Young-cheol does not play catch this winter and focuses only on building his body. Yoon Young-cheol, who won the High School Excellence Award at the Baseball Softball Night on the 19th, said, “The club is systematically training with weights. I haven’t played catch yet, but I’m training with weights.” 스포츠토토

From December 1, he moved from Gwangju to Hampyeong to continue his movement. Yoon Young-cheol said, “He seems to have improved his strength as he continued weight training.” While training at Champions Field in Gwangju, Yoon Young-chul trained in a two-person team with ace Yang Hyeon-jong, and he said that he received a lot of help from him by teaching him various things.

Yoon Young-chul also cited KIA’s other strength as “food.” Yoon Young-cheol, who still communicates with his youth teammates through group chat rooms, laughed, saying, “While talking about this and that, some clubs talk about which one is good. KIA said the rice was delicious.”

Yoon Young-cheol has a slim physique of 187 cm and 85 kg. If he grows his body and throws a faster and stronger ball, he is more likely to carry on the dominant pitch he showed in high school baseball in the pros. Attention is focusing on whether Yoon Young-cheol, who received KIA’s special management, can be reborn from a special rookie to a special pitcher.