Moon Dong-ju, First Native South Korean Pitcher to Throw 160km/h

Moon Dong-ju of the Hanwha Eagles pitches hard in a game against Kia in Gwangju on April 12. Courtesy of the Hanwha Eagles

Moon Dong-ju (20) of the Hanwha Eagles was the first South Korean pitcher to pitch at a speed of 160km/h in South Korea’s KBO League.

In a match against Kia at the Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on April 12, Moon Dong-ju stepped onto the mound as the starting pitcher. With one out at the bottom of the first inning, Moon landed two strikes against Park Chan-ho with a slider as his first pitch followed by a 128km/h curve ball. He then pitched a fastball for the third strike and second out. The Champions Field radar recorded the velocity of the third pitch, the fastball, as 159km/h, but the velocity was 160.1km/h according to the pitch tracking system (PTS) of Sports2i, the official recording company for the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). According to Trackman, used by SPOTV, which broadcast the game, the velocity of the pitch was 161km/h.

Since PTS was introduced in 2011, the only pitcher to throw a ball at 160km/h was Radhamez Liz, a foreign pitcher who played for the LG Twins. Liz pitched several balls at speeds of over 160km/h according to the PTS, including a 162.1km/h fastball at Cho Dong-hwa in a game against SK on September 24, 2012. However, Moon Dong-ju was the first South Korean pitcher to record 160km/h.

Previously, Choi Dae-sung, now retired, had the record for the fastest pitch among Korean pitchers. His record was 158.7km/h against Hanwha’s Jang Sung-ho when Choi played for Lotte on September 7, 2012. Among active players, Kiwoom’s An Woo-jin had the fastest record of 158.4km/h, which he set against SSG’s Kim Sung-hyun on September 30, 2022.

Moon Dong-ju is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who joined the Hanwha Eagles as the team’s first choice in the draft. In his first year, he didn’t play in many games due to injury, but his powerful pitching and control of the ball, particularly his fastballs, raised expectations. This year, he began the season in the starting rotation, and in his first game, against Samsung on April 6, he snatched Hanwha’s first win as well as his first personal win this season by throwing five innings and allowing only one hit and no run. In his second game on Wednesday, Moon recorded the fastest pitch for a South Korean pitcher.

Moon Dong-ju is expected to grow into a first class ace to lead the future of Hanwha, which remained at the bottom of the league for three consecutive years until last year. He is also expected to lead the future of Korean baseball, which performed poorly in a series of international matches recently.

Moon gave a strong performance Wednesday, pitching six innings, allowing three hits and two runs while snatching six strikeouts. The only crisis he faced was in the bottom of the second, when he allowed Lee Woo-sung a double to right field after loading first and third base with a base on balls and a hit with two outs. However, Hanwha’s batting lineup failed to perform, and Moon recorded a loss. Kia won 2-0 with the help of starter Shaun Anderson, who only allowed three hits and no run with seven strikeouts during seven innings.

In Changwon, NC extended its winning streak to five games after defeating KT 5-1 thanks to the fine pitching by temporary starter Lee Yong-jun, who allowed only three hits and one run in five innings, and to two homers by Park Kun-woo (two-run homer) and Park Sok-min (solo home run). In Daegu, SSG defeated Samsung 3-0 with the help of some excellent pitching by starter Moon Seung-won, who gave up eight hits but no runs during eight innings.

The Doosan versus Kiwoom game, which was scheduled to be held in Jamsil, was canceled due to fine dust. This was the first time in two years since May 8, 2021 that a game was canceled because of fine dust, and only the seventeenth game in the league’s history to be canceled due to poor air quality.