Moon Dong-joo (20, Hanwha), a 2nd-year professional and a big prospect, threw a fastball that broke 160km for the first time as a Korean player in the KBO League.
In the 2023 KBO League KIA match held at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 12th, Moon Dong-ju struck out with a 160.1km fastball on the ball count 2 strike against Park Chan-ho after one shot at the end of the 1st inning. This record is the speed measured by the ‘Pitch Tracking System’ (PTS) operated by ‘Sports to I’, the KBO’s official record statistics company. 토토사이트
It is the first time Moon Dong-ju has exceeded 160 km in pitching speed in the PTS, which has been operated since 2011, since Redames Leeds, a foreign pitcher who played an active part in LG from 2011 to 13, and Fabio Castillo (then Hanwha) in 2016.
On September 24, 2012, Leeds threw a fastball that exceeded 160 km on a PTS basis, recording 162.1 km against SK (predecessor of SSG) Jo Dong-hwa. On October 3, 2016, Castillo threw 160.4 km against Kuk Hae-seong against Doosan.
Among domestic pitchers, on September 7, 2012, Choi Dae-seong (then Lotte) threw 158.7 km against Jang Seong-ho (then Hanwha), the previous highest speed. Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom), currently considered the best pitcher in the KBO league, recorded 158.4 km against SSG Kim Seong-hyun on September 30 last year. In addition, Han Seung-hyuk (Hanwha) threw 157.7 km in 2016 when he was a KIA, Yo-han Cho (SSG) threw 157.5 km last year, and Jo Sang-woo (Kiwoom) threw 157.2 km in 2019, respectively.
On this day, Moon Dong-ju scored 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs while striking out 6 while throwing 92 balls up to the 6th inning against KIA, and was replaced by Han Seung-hyuk in the beginning of the 7th inning. He pitched well with a quality start (pitching 6 or more innings, within 3 earned runs), but became a losing pitcher with a score of 0-2 while being silent in the batting line.