Highly touted rookie pitcher skipping rotation turn after long outing

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- The Kiwoom Heroes' teen rookie pitcher Jung Hyun-woo will have his next turn in the rotation skipped this week after a long outing in his regular-season debut.

Jung, the first overall pick at the 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) draft, had been scheduled to face the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday. However, the KBO canceled all games set for Tuesday, as the baseball community mourns the death of a fan who suffered a traumatic head injury in a freak accident at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Saturday.

Teams will return to the field Wednesday but instead of starting Jung on an extra day of rest, the Heroes announced another rookie, Yoon Hyun, as their starter for Wednesday.

Jung, 18, threw 122 pitches in five innings last Wednesday against the Kia Tigers -- the second-most pitches thrown by a rookie out of high school in KBO history.

Heroes manager Hong Won-ki took some heat for extending the young pitcher in his first start, just so Jung could complete five innings and qualify for a victory.

Jung gave up six runs -- two unearned -- on eight hits as the Heroes prevailed 17-10. He struck out four but walked seven, which drove up his pitch count.

In the days after Jung's start, Hong repeatedly said the young left-hander was not experiencing any physical issues and was recovering well from the long start. Hong has also said he would monitor Jung's pitch count in his next outing.

An official with the Heroes said Tuesday the team had considered giving Jung a breather after his scheduled start Tuesday. But with that game canceled, they decided to give the pitcher rest ahead of schedule.

"He does not have any health-related problems and he will stay on the active roster," the official said.

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