The NC Dinos dispatched four pitchers to the Perth Heat of the Australian pro baseball league last year. A total of four players, including Shin Young-woo (21), a rookie draft runner and 154 kilometers thrower in 2023, left-hander Seo Ui-tae (28), and promising players Park Ji-han (25) and Won Jong-hae (20), participated in the Australian pro baseball league. 토토사이트

As expected, Shin continued his growth in the last warm-up match for Softbank and the Ulsan Education League last year. He reaffirmed that he is not behind powerful foreign hitters. 

Since his debut in the Australian pro baseball league, he has pitched in seven games, including three consecutive games and 14 innings without allowing a single run, recording 2-1 with an ERA of 3.45 (12 earned runs in 31 ⅓ innings), 41 strikeouts, 20 walks, a hit rate of 211 and WHIP of 1.37. He recorded 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings, maintaining his strikeout ability shown in Korea. He then gave up 5.7 walks per nine innings. It is hard to say that his chronic ball control anxiety has drastically improved, but he was gradually improving. 

However, Shin only played until the eighth round due to elbow injury and returned to Korea early. After receiving simple inflammation findings, he has no problem in preparing for this season, and he will join the second camp in Taiwan. Shin is included in the starting lineup that coach Lee Ho-joon envisions this year. If Shin can continue to stay healthy, he can make a name for himself as a starting pitcher.

However, NC actually had a more valuable discovery than Shin. It was right-handed sidearm Won Jong-hae, who was designated 65th overall in the seventh round of the 2024 Rookie Draft. He recorded an ERA of 3.95 with one win, two losses and one hold in 27 ⅓ innings in 10 games at the Futures League last year.

He was dispatched to Australia to complete the entire season. In 10 matches (nine starts) 47 ⅓ innings, he recorded two wins and two losses with an ERA of 3.42, 40 strikeouts, 19 walks, a hit rate of 2540, and WHIP of 1.37. These were performances by Shin Young-woo and Park, but he left a record by accumulating more samples. 

What's more, he has experienced the postseason. Having ranked third among the six teams with 20 wins, 20 losses and 500 percent, the Perth Heat met the Adelaide Giants, who ranked second in the regular season, and Won took the mound as the starting pitcher in the second game. During five ⅔ innings, Won pitched well, allowing two hits, three walks, two strikeouts, and three runs (two earned runs). Although Won did not become a winning pitcher, his team's good pitching paved the way for the team's 5-3 victory. With this victory, the team advanced to the championship game. 

However, Won Jong-hae, who started in the second game of the championship game against Canberra Cavaliers, lost the game by allowing two hits (one homer), three walks, three strikeouts and four runs in two innings. The Perth Heat then lost the championship to Canberra.

Coach Lee Ho-joon had no choice but to pay attention to Won Jong-hae's performance in Australia. "I love Won Jong-hae in Australia. I heard that he is throwing 145 kilometers now. He is playing in the playoffs in Australia, and he said he got a lot better. I'm going to take him to Taiwan after checking his performance," Lee Ho-joon said ahead of the start of the spring camp on April 25.

He throws a ball around mid-140km to change-up that falls from the trajectory of the sidearm. This naturally reminds me of Lee Jae-hak, NC's ace with the most wins. Even Won Jong-hae has so many similarities that Lee Jae-hak is considered a role model. If Won can compete with the starting lineup and demonstrate competitiveness in the first division, NC's pitching staff will become more solid.

First of all, Won Jong-hae, along with Seo Ui-tae and Park Ji-han, who were dispatched to Australia together, returned from Australia on the 5th and will join the second-tier camp on the 9th to prepare to join Taiwan's first-tier camp.