9th, Jang Hyun-seok’s management company, Rico Sports Agency, said, “Masan Yongma High School’s Jang Hyun-seok signed a contract with the LA Dodgers on the 8th for a contract of $900,000 (approximately 1.18 billion won). We have signed a large-scale contract,” he officially announced.
Jang Hyun-seok received the most 메이저사이트 attention among the players who met the conditions to participate in the KBO League rookie draft this year. Just by looking at his grades, you can see why. As of the 9th, Jang Hyeon-seok took the mound in 9 games this season, striking out 52 times in 29 innings, and has achieved an overwhelming record of 3 wins, an undefeated ERA of 0.93 and a WHIP (on-base percentage per inning) of 0.79.
Jang Hyun-seok’s greatest strength is his fast ball. His highest velocity reaches a whopping 157 km, and he has the ability to consistently spray the ball in the early and mid 150 km. Also, at the recent Cheongryonggi held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul, when the fastball was not controlled, he solved the game with a breaking ball, personally proved that he could escape the crisis, and even showed off his complete pitching ability to digest all 9 innings.
Due to these advantages, major league scouts from 10 KBO league teams as well as multiple clubs have been keeping an eye on Jang Hyun-seok. If Jang Hyeon-seok, who is the only amateur player with talent enough to be on the Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) team, stays in the KBO League, he will be nominated for the first place overall. Jang Hyun-seok has been sparing about his future, but on the 1st, the Ricoh Sports Agency said, “After long consideration, Jang Hyun-seok decided to challenge the major leagues without submitting an application for the KBO draft.”
Through Ricoh Sports Agency, Jang Hyun-seok said, “I’m sorry to have kept many people waiting in the process of deciding where to go. In the end, I made up my mind to challenge the major leagues,” he explained the background of challenging the United States, not the KBO League.
Jang Hyun-seok has been evaluated as a better player than Shim Jun-seok (Pittsburgh Pirates), who was regarded as the ‘biggest high school fish’ last year, including his commanding side, and this can be confirmed in the down payment. Shim Jun-seok received 750,000 dollars (approximately 980 million won) and went to the United States, but in the case of Jang Hyun-suk, he received 900,000 dollars, which is 150,000 dollars more.
It seems that the Dodgers expects a lot from Jang Hyun-seok. The Dodgers’ international amateur boss pool this year was $4.144 million (approximately 5.4 billion won), which was the lowest in the major leagues along with the Texas Rangers. $4.1 million was spent signing contracts with amateurs, including Accordingly, the Dodgers traded two prospects and secured a bonus pool, which they used for Jang Hyun-seok.
When Jang Hyun-seok joined hands with the Dodgers, local media focused on this news. ‘Dodger Blue’, which mainly delivers news about the Dodgers, said, “Jang Hyun-seok was expected to be nominated as the first pick in the KBO draft next month, but he gave up.”
‘Dudgeonation’ delivered the news of Jang Hyun-suk’s contract, saying, “This is very interesting news because Jang Hyun-suk is a 19-year-old prospect. He was expected to be the first pick in the KBO draft, but he hoped to play in the United States, and the Dodgers gave him a chance.” “It’s going to be a little while until we see Jang, but Dodgers fans will be very excited to see what he can do in the major leagues,” he said.
Then, ‘SB Nation’ said, “The Dodgers’ trade of two minor leaguers last week to secure an international bonus pool seems to have been put to good use.” “Prospects on a team like the Dodgers with a lot of good players will take some time to reach the major league level,” he said. I will hope,” he explained.
The Dodgers have a lot of ties with Korean pitchers. The uniforms worn by Park Chan-ho of the “Korean Express” and Ryu Hyun-jin of the “Korean Monster” when they first stepped on the big league stage were the Dodgers. Park Chan-ho recorded an ERA of 3.77 with an ERA of 84-58 over 9 seasons, and Hyun-Jin Ryu recorded an ERA of 2.98 with an ERA of 54-33 over 6 seasons, both with the Dodgers. ‘Dodge Nation’ added, “The Dodgers have a long history of joining world-class players such as Ryu Hyun-jin, Maeda Kenta, and Nomo Hideo, and we hope Jang Hyun-seok will have a career similar to them.”
Jang Hyun-seok, who signed a contract with the Dodgers, said, “It is an honor to join the prestigious Dodgers team.” In the meantime, numerous players have challenged the major leagues. However, since Ryu Je-guk, who stepped on the big league stage with the Chicago Cubs in 2006, no ‘pitcher’ who signed an international amateur contract has stepped on the major league stage. It remains to be seen if Jang Hyun-seok can become the ‘first’ since Ryu Je-guk.