The 2024 KBO Draft is just eight days away, amid an unprecedented pitching boom.
“The 2024 KBO Rookie Draft will be held on September 14 at 2 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Korea,” the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) announced today.안전놀이터
The 2024 KBO Rookie Draft, which will be an all-round draft, will consist of rounds 1 through 11. It will be held in the following order: Hanwha-Dusan-Lotte-Samsung-NC-KIA-KT-LG-KEUM-SSG, which is the reverse order of the 2023 team rankings. In addition, sophomore players from four-year (including three-year) universities will be eligible for the draft, thanks to an early draft system that was implemented last year.
The biggest question mark is the selection of Kiwoom, who holds a whopping six third-round picks. Kiwoom began by trading Joo Hyo-sang, 26, to the KIA Tigers last winter for a second-round pick, then sent Kim Tae-hoon to Samsung in April for a third-round pick along with Lee Won-seok. In July, they acquired LG’s first-round pick (+ Lee Joo-hyung) in the Choi Won-tae trade, giving them a whopping six picks in three rounds: 1R 8 (Choi Won-tae trade), 9, 2R 16 (Joo Hyo-sang trade), 19, 3R 24 (Lee Won-seok trade), and 29.
This year’s draft has been characterized as an all-time boom for right-handed pitchers. While Jang Hyun-seok (19-Masan Yongmago), who was considered the No. 1 overall pick, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, there is a plethora of right-handed pitchers who can throw up to 150 kilometers per hour, including Kim Taek-yeon (18-Incheon-Go), Yuk Sun-yeop (18-Jangchung-Go), Won Sang-hyun (19-Busan-Go), and Cho Dae-hyun (18-Gangneung-Go). Among the left-handers, Hwang Jun-seo (18-Jangchung-go) is at the top of the list, with one major league scout describing him as “an upgraded version of Yoon Young-chul (19-KIA).”
Other notable names include Jeon Jun-pyo (18-Seoul), Kim Hwi-gun (18-Hwimun), Kim Yoon-ha (18-Jangchung), and Yuk Cheong-myung (18-Gangneung), while others, like Jeon Mir (18-Gyeongbuk) and Cho Dae-hyun, are two-hitting talents. In college baseball, there are two or three players who could be first-round picks.
“We decided to make this trade after finding a little more calm and seriously thinking about reinforcing the weak parts of the club’s current power and strengthening the future power,” manager Ko Hyung-wook told Star News shortly after LG acquired Lee Ju-hyung. With ace Ahn Woo-jin (24) recently deciding to undergo elbow ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) and won’t be able to play until next year, this is a great opportunity to rebuild the pitching staff in one fell swoop. However, with Lee Jung-hoo (25) in the majors and a need for a batting prospect, Kiwoom’s choice is unpredictable. As a result, the direction of the other nine teams is likely to fluctuate depending on what Kiwoom does.
In addition to Kiwoom, NC secured Hanwha’s seventh-round pick, meaning that if all teams exercise all of their picks, Kiwoom will have 14 players, NC will have 12, LG, KIA, Samsung, and Hanwha will have 10, and the other teams will have 11, for a total of 110 players in the KBO.
This year’s rookie draft includes 782 high school graduates, 296 college graduates (including 41 early draft picks), and 5 other players, including overseas amateurs and professionals, totaling 1083 players.
Baseball fans can also attend the game. Tickets will be provided to 100 baseball fans (50 tickets for each person) through a lottery and can be applied for through the KBO website from noon to midnight on the 6th. Tickets will be distributed at the lobby distribution desk from noon on the day of the event, and can be picked up after identification. For more information on how to apply for tickets, please visit the KBO website and official social media accounts.
The 2024 KBO Rookie Draft will be broadcast live on cable sports channels SBS Sports, MBC SPORTS+, SPOTV, and SPOTV2, as well as on wired and wireless platforms Naver, Daum (Kakao TV), TVING, and Spoki.
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