Rookies have been making their mark this season. There are also rookies who have yet to make their mark. One player who has attracted a lot of attention is NC Shin Young-woo (19). He had a chance and cried over his ‘bad luck’. He throws for the Futures again.
Shin Young-woo, a former Gyeongnam High School ace, was selected by NC with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2023 rookie draft. He came to the pros with a modest contract of 250 million won. A glimpse of expectations. Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha), Yoon Young-chul (KIA), and Kim Min-seok (Lotte) have been called the “big three,” but Shin Young-woo is not far behind.
He has yet to make a first-team appearance. In nine appearances for the Futures, he has pitched 36.1 innings with a 2-4 record and a 4.21 ERA.
His batting average is an impressive 0.144. His pitches aren’t great. He’s walked 43 batters while striking out 42. It”s something that all rookies struggle with. However, his fastball reaches up to 154 kilometres per hour. Any manager would love to see it in the first team. And Kang is no different.
The opportunity came. The plan was to use Shin Young-woo as the starter against Doosan in Jamsil on 28 June. Injuries kept popping up in the starting lineup, leaving a hole. With Lee Jae-hak, Choi Sung-young, and even Koo Chang-mo out of the lineup, Kang Myung-hyun chose Shin Young-woo. It was no problem, as he had been taking selection classes at Futures.
On June 25, the game against Hanwha in Daejeon was cancelled due to rain, and the order was pushed back. At the same time, Shin Young-woo’s spot disappeared. On 28 June, Eric Peddy was called up, but Shin continued to accompany the first team squad.
The spot opened up again. On June 29, the game was cancelled again due to rain. Taylor Widener was scheduled to start a day later, and Song Myung-ki was called up on the first day.
Shin Young-woo’s spot was gone again. After a brief stint with the first team, Shin was sent down to the Futures. He must have been disappointed. The heavens were angry.
Coach Kang Myung-hwa also felt for his young protégé. “I feel sorry for Shin Young-woo. If he wasn’t obese, he would have been able to pitch, but he was pushed back twice. He couldn’t pitch and had to go down. I think he felt bad, too. He took a few days off. He’ll throw again in the Futures. We’ll see.”온라인바카
It was more of an ad hoc selection anyway. Of course, if he pitched well, it could change, but for now, his complement is clear. His fastball delivery.
Kang said, “It’s not the curveball or other changeups, but the fastball. If you look at the numbers, you can see that he’s struggling with his fastball. That wasn’t the case in my amateur days. Something doesn’t seem to be working. The Future Team is working on it, and we’re working on it. You have to get it through training. Something just doesn’t feel right,” he pointed out.
It’s heartbreaking to see a chance like that go by the wayside. He’s still only 19 years old, but he’s the future of the NC mound. The talent is there. He just needs to regroup and push for the first team. He’ll have to work on his mechanics and come back stronger.