Yoon Young-chul, Moon Dong-joo, Park Myung-keun Rookie of the Year race 'fierce' even in second half

On the beast side of the equation, Minseok Kim, Hyunbin Moon, and others.

The race for Rookie of the Year continues in the second half of the KBO.
On the pitching side, Yoon Young-cheol (KIA Tigers), Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha Eagles), and Park Myung-geun (LG Twins) are in the race for Rookie of the Year. On the batting side, Kim Min-seok (Lotte Giants) and Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha Eagles) stand out.

Yoon Young-cheol has been a steady performer and a mainstay in the KIA starting lineup. He has been recognized for his steady performance since his high school days, and he has continued to showcase his strengths in the professional ranks.

In 13 starts in the first half of the year, Yoon had only two games with more than five runs allowed. Never one to go into a long slump, Yoon went 5-4 with a 4.08 ERA in 14 games in the first half. He pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the first time since his debut against the Gwangju Samsung Lions on April 12.

KIA has another Rookie of the Year candidate. It's left-hander Choi Ji-min, who has improved his velocity and become a mainstay in the bullpen.

Choi pitched 42⅓ innings in 37 games in the first half of the season, posting a stellar 1.70 ERA. He even went on a 17-game, 20⅓-inning scoreless streak over the course of more than a month, from April 20 against Sasik Lotte to May 27 against LG Electronics in Gwangju.

Moon Dong-ju is another strong Rookie of the Year candidate, as he pitched fewer than 30 innings last year and is eligible for Rookie of the Year despite being in his second year as a professional.

After raising expectations early in the season with a 160-mile-per-hour fastball, Moon went 6-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 16 games in the first half.

Averaging more than five innings per outing, Moon showed his consistency in his final appearance of the first half, pitching 7⅓ innings of one-run ball against Jamsil LG Electronics on April 12.

Park Myung-geun, who has become a key part of the bullpen for the top-ranked LG, is also in the running for Rookie of the Year honors.

He finished the first half of the season with four wins, five holds, five saves, and a 3.25 ERA. While the usual suspects in the bullpen took turns being out, Park was a steady presence in the LG bullpen.

In particular, Park pitched three scoreless innings in the 10th inning against the NC Dinos of Changwon on March 22 to help LG secure a come-from-behind victory.

Doosan's Kim Dong-joo surprised fans with a six-inning no-hitter against NC on April 6, his debut start. On May 12, he threw a seven-inning no-hitter against KIA in Jamsil.

Despite not accumulating many wins (2) in the first half of the year, Kim finished with a respectable 3.31 ERA in 51⅔ innings pitched in 11 games.

There are plenty of other notable prospects on the other side of the ball as well.

Kim Min-seok, who joined Lotte with the third overall pick in the first round of this year's rookie draft, has lived up to the high expectations. He played in 70 of the 77 games Lotte played in the first half of the season, showing off his steady form. He batted .260 with two home runs, 24 RBIs, 11 doubles, and 34 runs scored in the first half.

Kim also earned the honor of being named to the All-Star Best 12, the fourth time in history that a first-year high school player has been named.

With 56 hits in the first half of the year, Kim is on pace to reach the 100-hit mark in his first year.

Another Lotte outfielder, Yoon Dong-hee, has made a strong case for Rookie of the Year honors after a breakout first half.

Called up in late April, Yoon had yet to get a regular at-bat, but finished the first half with a .321 batting average. Yoon also had a 16-game hitting streak from June 21 against the Suwon KT Wiz to the final game of the first half on June 13 against the Changwon NC.

Along with Kim Min-seok, Moon Hyun-bin, a "yooi" rookie beast who finished the first half with more than the required number of at-bats, is also a candidate for Rookie of the Year.

While his batting average isn't high at .250, he showed off his long ball skills with three home runs.

He also played a variety of positions on defense, which helped his offense. With 392 innings in center field, Moon has played defense at every infield position except first base, including 48 innings at shortstop, 46 at second base, and one at third base.

Not to be left out is Kim Dong-heon, the Kiwoom Heroes' rookie catcher. After instilling trust in the coaching staff from his first year, Kim played 295⅔ innings of defense in 57 games in the first half. That ranks 10th among all KBO catchers in the first half.

His 25.9 percent stolen base rate ranked sixth among catchers with at least 200 innings.

Kim's first-half performance earned him a spot on the 고스톱 Hangzhou Asian Games squad.