adminHe will pitch about seven games in the second half.”
Hanwha Eagles manager Choi Won-ho revealed Moon Dong-ju’s pitching schedule for the second half of the season.
Moon, who made his professional debut in the 2022 season, is a right-hander with a fastball that touches 160 mph. He showed promise in his rookie season, going 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA in 13 games.
Moon has stepped up his game this year. He is now firmly entrenched in the starting rotation and has a 5-6 record with a 3.69 ERA in 15 appearances (75.2 innings) as of eight games ago. In his most recent start, a 3-4 loss to the Lotte Giants in Daejeon on June 6, he gave up three runs on six hits, one walk, and one home run in four innings with five strikeouts, but he showed his true colors on June 24 against the Changwon NC Dinos (7-1 win) and June 30 against the Daegu Samsung Lions (6-1 win) in eight innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
With so much potential, Moon was selected to the Korean National Team for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin in September. The plan is for him to play around seven games in the second half.
“He (Moon) pitched well twice (June 24 against Changwon NC and June 30 against Daegu Samsung Electronics), and yesterday (June 6) he was a little off,” Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho said ahead of the SSG Landers game in Daejeon (rained out), “and he’s going to pitch the last game (before the All-Star break) against the LG Twins in Jamsil, so he’s going to play about seven games in the second half.”
This is due to the organization’s firm policy of protecting younger players. Since last year, Hanwha has strictly managed Moon’s innings pitched. Initially, the team planned for him to pitch up to 100 innings last season, but he was limited to 28.2 innings due to a season-ending injury.
This season, Hanwha will limit Moon to 130 innings, including the Asian Games. Currently, Moon has pitched 75.2 innings.
“We’ll have to see if there are any rainouts and his physical condition, but if everything goes well, he’ll pitch until the end of August,” Choi said.
After the end of August, the team will prepare for the Asian Games. “Usually, teams that go straight to the Korean Series have more than three weeks to recover,” Choi said. If we go straight to the series, we spend one week recovering and playing catch, and start pitching in the second week. Then, in the third week, they throw two or three innings in a practice game and then go into the Korean Series, and their pitches are very good. (Moon) Dong-ju will prepare like that and go to the Asian Games.”안전놀이터
Of course, there will be no innings limit starting next season, when Moon will be in his third year as a professional. “Next year, we will lift the innings limit,” Choi said. The club is also planning to limit rookie pitchers to less than 100 innings in the first year, 130 innings in the second season, and then lift the innings limit. I think (Moon) should do the same.”