Will Moon Dong-ju, who was very active in the playoffs, give Hanwha Eagles a 73.17% chance.

Will Moon Dong-ju, who was very active in the playoffs, give Hanwha Eagles a 73.17% chance.

Moon Dong-joo will take the mound as Hanwha’s starting pitcher in Game 1 of the 2025 professional baseball KBO Korean Series (best of seven) against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 26th.

Hanwha, which came in second with 83 wins, 4 draws and 57 losses and went straight to the playoffs (best out of five), beat the Samsung Lions with 3 wins and 2 losses in the series to win a ticket to the Korean Series. It is the first time in 19 years that Hanwha has appeared in the Korean Series since 2006. They will now try to win the Korean Series for the first time in 26 years since 1999.

사진 확대 Game 3 of the playoffs (best of five) between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions of the “2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason” was held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the afternoon of the 21st. Hanwha Moon Dong-joo, who took the mound at first base with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, is pitching hard. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu 사진 확대 Game 3 of the playoffs (best of five) between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions of the “2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason” was held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the afternoon of the 21st. Hanwha Moon Dong-joo is heading to the dugout cheering after striking out Samsung Kang Min-ho in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and second base. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu

Looking back on the Korean Series, the first game was very important. That’s why you can lead the series. This is especially true for teams that are aiming for “upsets (lower teams beating the top teams in the series)” like Hanwha. The probability of winning the first game of the Korean Series is 73.17% (30 out of 41).

In this situation, Hanwha starts Moon Dong-ju as a starting pitcher. Moon Dong-ju, who was called by Hanwha for the first nomination in 2022, is a right-hander who is the present and future of the eagle corps. He recorded 27 wins and 23 losses with a 4.39 ERA in 81 games (379.2 innings).

His performance continued this year. In 24 games (121 innings), he recorded 11 wins, 5 losses and a 4.02 ERA. However, he did not have much fun with one win, one loss and a 7.04 ERA against LG four times this season.

Fortunately, the momentum is at its peak these days. In the playoffs, he took the mound twice as a bullpen and recorded a one-win, one-hold ERA of 0.00 (six scoreless innings), driving Hanwha’s advance to the Korean Series. Of course, he was the MVP of the series.

사진 확대 Hanwha won 5-4 on the afternoon of the 21st with the performance of Moon Dong-joo, who pitched four scoreless innings in the third round of the playoffs (best-of-five) between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions in the “2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason” at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. Noh Si-hwan helped win with a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon and Moon Dong-ju are sharing the joy of victory. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu 사진 확대 Hanwha advanced to the Korean Series with 3 wins and 2 losses in the series as it won 11-2 with good pitching by Ponce and Weiss in Game 5 of the playoffs (best of five) of the “2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason” at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the afternoon of the 24th. Hanwha Moon Dong-ju poses after being named the playoff MVP. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu

Moon Dong-joo, who met after Game 5 of the playoffs, said, “Honestly, I got (Daily MVP) twice. I thought there would be a little possibility (to win the series MVP award). I thought it would be nice to feel that I did a good job,” he said with a bright smile.

“I haven’t played a lot of bullpen games (in the meantime). I could have said I had no experience, but I did my best to not lose, so I had good results,” he said. “The starting pitcher can prepare according to his plan, but the bullpen (preparing) depends on what the pitcher in front of him is It can be turned upside down. I felt again that it was not easy to prepare,” he added.

In the Korean Series, he will return to the starting lineup. In particular, LG, which was weak in the regular league, is very determined.

Moon Dong-joo said, “I really wanted to pay back (LG), but I met him in the most important Korean series. There is no big difference, but I think I will have a different mindset. In particular, I will focus more on the game because my last appearance (against Daejeon LG on September 27th, 8 hits, 1 homer, 1 strikeout and 6 runs in 0.2 innings) was not good.” Will Moon Dong-ju succeed in avenging and give Hanwha a 73.17 percent chance.

Meanwhile, LG predicted Anders Tollhurst against this. Tolhurst, a substitute foreign player for Eliaser Hernandez, is a right-hander with 6 wins, 2 losses and a 2.86 ERA in eight games (44 innings) this year. In the match against Hanwha, he pitched well with five hits, one walk, seven strikeouts and one run in six innings in Daejeon for the first and last time in the regular league on the 27th of last month.

사진 확대 Hanwha won 5-4 on the afternoon of the 21st with the performance of Moon Dong-joo, who pitched four scoreless innings in the third round of the playoffs (best-of-five) between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions in the “2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason” at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. Noh Si-hwan helped win with a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Hanwha’s Moon Dong-ju, who gradually defended his victory, is cheering after confirming his victory. Photo = Reporter Kim Young-gu

[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]