Wonton Tae-in, the energetic Moon Dong-ju

“The second Korean pitcher pitched boldly and well,” Padres manager Mike Scioscia singled out a pitcher for praise after a friendly game between Team Korea and the MLB's San Diego Padres at Seoul's Gocheok Dome in March. It was Samsung's Won Tae-in Won (24), the second pitcher of the day. Won pitched a scoreless inning in the third and fourth innings, striking out three.

At the start of this season's professional baseball season, the spotlight was still on last year's Rookie of the Year and Hangzhou Asian Games finalist Moon Dong-ju, but just over a month into the season, the mood has completely changed. While Moon has struggled mightily and has been relegated to the second team, it's Won Tae-in who has been keeping the 'homegrown ace' pride alive. With five wins on the season as of June 6, Won is tied for first place in wins with KIA starter Will Crowe. His 1.79 ERA is second overall, behind KIA starter James Nail (1.26).

This is in stark contrast to Moon's disappointing 1-2 record and 8.78 ERA this season. His early season form has been a far cry from last season, when he won the rookie of the year award with an 8-8 record and 3.72 ERA, led by a fastball that averaged 151 kilometers per hour. Moon had his worst outing on March 28 against Doosan, giving up nine runs on 10 hits, three home runs and nine walks in three and one-third innings. He was sent down to the second team the next day for the first time since his professional debut and is expected to return on August 9th. Moon's average fastball velocity this season is 149 kilometers per hour, two kilometers less than last year, and his average velocity dropped to 146.8 kilometers per hour in his last start against Doosan. His curveball has been getting hit for long balls. The coaching staff believes that his second-place finish was inevitable.

On the other hand, Won Tae-in, who went 7-7 in 26 games last year, is on pace to win 18 to 19 games this season, surpassing his personal best of 14 wins in 2021. In baseball circles, “Won's pitches and control of his delivery have improved.” While he focused on throwing fastballs at the beginning of his professional career, he is now cooking hitters with his fastball, which he can control freely, and his changeup, which he can poke in the corners of the strike zone.

His “arm-color pitching” stands out. His four-seam fastball has dropped from over 40 percent of his pitches this season to 33 percent, while his changeup has increased. He utilized his slider and changeup between 26 and 30 percent of the time, respectively, while increasing the percentage of his curveball, which he said was his weakness, from 4 percent last year to 7 percent this year. During the Seoul Series, Won even got some tips on throwing the curveball from LA Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow. “He has more mental space when he pitches, and he's very good at utilizing his changeup,” said SPOTV commentator Yang Sang-moon.

Won is not alone in his five wins. Koo Ja-uk (batting .328 with six home runs and 28 RBIs), McKinnon (batting .387 with three home runs and 18 RBIs), and Kim Young-woong (batting .303 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs) have provided solid support. The “league's strongest bullpen” of Kim Jae-yoon (7 saves) and Lim Chang-min (8 saves), along with Oh Seung-hwan (9 saves), provide the back end. Thanks to their performances, Samsung is in third place with a 20-15-1 record.

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